StockNews.com Upgrades Blackstone (NYSE:BX) to Buy

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America upped their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $165.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Blackstone has a one year low of $114.88 and a one year high of $200.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $180.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.52.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 232.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 279 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by 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.