Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $160.00 at UBS Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $140.00 to $160.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.47.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $159.71 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $145.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.67. The company has a market cap of $114.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.43, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $161.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,802,000 after acquiring an additional 34,872 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,050,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 936.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 5,383 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.