Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Barclays from $164.00 to $126.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.78% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore decreased their price target on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.57.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE BX opened at $113.74 on Monday. Blackstone has a one year low of $109.25 and a one year high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $83.99 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $143.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This trade represents a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,462,706,000 after purchasing an additional 227,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.