The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lowered by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $166.00 to $158.00 in a research report issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.99% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Blackstone from $187.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.86.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BX opened at $142.35 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.75. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. This represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. This trade represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 783,978 shares of company stock valued at $22,058,454 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.