Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $154.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $149.00 to $154.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 14.53% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX traded up $2.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $180.19. 1,127,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,964,948. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $180.59 and a 200 day moving average of $161.95.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 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 approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.