Morgan Stanley Cuts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $150.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $222.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 16.61% from the stock’s current price.

BX has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.72.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $128.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,959,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,687,062. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $93.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.3% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 31,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,389,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 5.2% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,624 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $970,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.