Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Increased to $135.00 by Analysts at Argus

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Argus from $133.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Argus’ price target points to a potential upside of 9.30% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.80 on Wednesday, reaching $123.51. 1,284,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,686,355. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.20. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $79.92 and a twelve month high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $88.27 billion, a PE ratio of 43.73, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 121,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,002,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Blackstone by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after buying an additional 15,875 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,314,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Blackstone by 1,722.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,046,000 after buying an additional 476,768 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.