Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $177.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.18.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of BX traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $149.85. 802,028 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,416,281. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $143.08 and its 200-day moving average is $131.81. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $161.25.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently 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.