BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets lowered its price target on Blackstone to $165 from $180 but kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly an 18.3% upside from the current share price.
• Several other brokers have trimmed targets and MarketBeat's consensus is a Hold with a $175.33 target; BX traded down 2.1% to $139.47 and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages.
• Blackstone beat Q4 estimates (EPS $1.75 vs. $1.54; revenue $4.36B vs. $3.69B, +41.4% YoY) and directors have been buying shares, providing a bullish insider signal amid analyst caution.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $180.00 to $165.00 in a research report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective points to a potential upside of 18.31% from the stock's current price.

BX has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group set a $171.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday. HSBC dropped their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $187.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $175.33.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.1%

BX traded down $2.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $139.47. The company had a trading volume of 300,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,854,213. The stock has a market cap of $102.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.78.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 68,906 shares in the company, valued at $9,912,817.16. This trade represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired 783,978 shares of company stock worth $22,058,454 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,394,670,000 after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $568,902,000 after acquiring an additional 919,773 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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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