JMP Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Key Points

• JMP Securities has raised the target price for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) from $180.00 to $195.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.24% from its current price.
• Blackstone reported a $1.21 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a revenue increase of 32.7% year-over-year.
• Insiders have recently purchased a significant number of shares, with major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. acquiring over 1.18 million shares, increasing their ownership by nearly 40%.
• Currently, 70% of Blackstone's stock is owned by institutional investors, reflecting strong market confidence.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by JMP Securities from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. JMP Securities' price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.24% from the stock's current price.

BX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $166.06.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $178.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $130.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.63. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. Blackstone's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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