Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $171.00

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has lowered Blackstone's price target from $180.00 to $171.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.72% from its previous close.
• Blackstone is currently rated with a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with an average target price of $179.06 amid various recent adjustments by other research firms.
• Institutional investors own 70% of Blackstone's stock, with significant recent increases in holdings reported by several investment firms during the third quarter.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $180.00 to $171.00 in a research report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.72% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.06.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:BX opened at $155.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.99, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 695,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 8,352 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 167.6% during the 3rd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,453 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 54,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 12.9% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,353 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. 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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