Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was upgraded by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $168.40 on Thursday. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.12 billion, a PE ratio of 45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $192,234,012.49. This represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $183,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 126.5% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 5.7% during the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.