Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $177.25.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 797,148 shares of company stock valued at $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 31.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $568,902,000 after buying an additional 919,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $150.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.36. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $111.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.