StockNews.com Downgrades Blackstone (NYSE:BX) to Hold

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BX. Citigroup lifted their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $199.00 to $192.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.56.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of BX opened at $177.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.35 billion, a PE ratio of 61.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $180.92 and its 200-day moving average is $161.84. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,971 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after buying an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $67,472,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.