Evercore ISI Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $197.00

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has increased Blackstone's price target from $165.00 to $197.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.12% from the stock's last close.
• Blackstone's stock has received a mix of ratings, with ten analysts giving it a "hold" rating and nine giving it a "buy" rating, leading to a consensus target price of $167.94.
• The company reported earnings of $1.21 per share, exceeding expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 32.7%.
• Insider trading activity includes the purchase of 237 shares by Director Ruth Porat, valued at over $32,000, while another insider sold 25,000 shares valued at approximately $3.46 million.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by analysts at Evercore ISI from $165.00 to $197.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective points to a potential upside of 10.12% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BX. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.94.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE BX traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $178.90. The stock had a trading volume of 214,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,303,329. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,549 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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