Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $177.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $174.00 to $177.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential downside of 1.77% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $2.41 on Friday, reaching $180.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,127,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,964,948. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.95.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, equities research 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 123.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 10,952 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 83.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 4,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 7.7% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 146,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,462,000 after acquiring an additional 10,504 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 7,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Single Point Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.