Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $165.00 at Evercore ISI

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by Evercore ISI from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.48% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.47.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.5%

NYSE BX traded up $5.53 during trading on Thursday, hitting $164.21. 5,577,641 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,885,497. The company has a market capitalization of $119.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.46, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.12. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Blackstone by 105.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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.