Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $165.00 to $197.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price points to a potential upside of 10.70% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.71.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $177.96 on Friday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.10 and its 200 day moving average is $150.52. The company has a market cap of $129.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.84, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 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.