Piper Sandler Lowers Blackstone (NYSE:BX) to Neutral

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $149.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.29% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BX. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.06.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $149.44 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.54. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $106.80 billion, a PE ratio of 52.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 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.