Citizens Jmp Reaffirms “Market Outperform” Rating for Blackstone (NYSE:BX)

Blackstone (NYSE:BX)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at Citizens Jmp in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 36.99% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.86.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $142.35 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $153.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James Breyer bought 13,900 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 783,978 shares of company stock worth $22,058,454 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after purchasing an additional 412,281 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,462,706,000 after buying an additional 227,416 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after buying an additional 329,379 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $1,071,348,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Blackstone reported EPS of $1.75 and revenue of $4.36B, both topping estimates; record AUM and large inflows underpinned results and demonstrate momentum in deals, fees and infrastructure. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — BX declared a quarterly dividend of $1.49 (15.5% increase vs. prior quarter), implying a ~4.2% yield and signaling management confidence and stronger cash return to shareholders. (Company release)
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst notes — TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” and set a $183 target; Citizens Jmp kept a “market outperform” with a $195 target, both signaling sizable upside from current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management/sector commentary — Blackstone highlighted AI-related investment as a major economic driver and continues to signal interest in data-center and infrastructure opportunities, which is strategic but longer-term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor event scheduled — CFO Michael Chae will present at the BofA Financial Services Conference on Feb 10; investors should watch the webcast for additional color on capital deployment and fee trends. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts to neutral — JPMorgan trimmed its target from $176 to $158 and moved to “neutral,” signaling less conviction on near-term upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman trims target — Goldman cut its PT from $166 to $158 and maintained a “neutral” stance, adding to the pushback from some sell-side desks despite the beat. Read More.

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.