Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Lowered to $176.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its price target on Blackstone from $179 to $176 but kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 35.1% upside from the prior close.
• Analysts are split—11 Buy and 11 Hold—giving Blackstone a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $156.32.
• Blackstone recently beat quarterly estimates, reporting $1.75 EPS vs. $1.54 expected and $4.36B revenue vs. $3.69B expected, with revenue up 41.4% year-over-year and a 22.17% return on equity.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $179.00 to $176.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 35.10% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC lowered their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $158.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.32.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.9%

Blackstone stock opened at $130.27 on Monday. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $117.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.38.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jain Global LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $217,083,000 after buying an additional 24,237 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 20.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $143,582,000 after acquiring an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $58,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Blackstone

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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