Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE BX traded up $3.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $175.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,584,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,445,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.