Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $169.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 2.44% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BX. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.13.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.1 %

BX opened at $170.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $178.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.37. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $114.88 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $123.35 billion, a PE ratio of 58.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.