Blackstone (NYSE:BX) PT Raised to $188.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $169.00 to $188.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.80% from the stock’s previous close.

BX has been the topic of several other research reports. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.59.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX traded up $3.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.79. 975,057 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,429,077. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $146.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $172.81.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,591 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $418,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 28,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.