Evercore ISI Lowers Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $180.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective reduced by Evercore ISI from $197.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.93% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone from $160.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.79.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $155.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $170.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.53. The company has a market capitalization of $114.44 billion, a PE ratio of 41.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Corporate 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 bought and sold shares of BX. Conway Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,773,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 11.8% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 142,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,396,000 after buying an additional 15,022 shares in the last quarter. Steinberganna Wealth Management acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,124,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.2% in the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.