Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $132.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Blackstone to $132 (from $126) and kept an "outperform" rating, implying a potential upside of about 13.61%.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—11 Buy and 11 Hold ratings leave a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a mean price target of $155.55, even as several brokers recently trimmed their targets.
• Blackstone beat Q4 estimates (EPS $1.75 vs. $1.54; revenue up 41.4% YoY), and insiders reported large moves including a ~2.87M-share purchase (~$75M) and a 7.48M-share sale.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $126.00 to $132.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. BMO Capital Markets' target price points to a potential upside of 13.61% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BX. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $143.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $158.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $158.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Eleven 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.55.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE BX opened at $116.19 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $117.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.01. Blackstone has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $86.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after buying an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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