Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BX. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $173.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $180.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.48. The stock has a market cap of $125.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $114.88 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 11.7% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,823 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $74,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 93.9% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 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.