Argus Raises Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $135.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Argus from $133.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Argus' price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.07% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer downgraded Blackstone from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE BX traded down $0.54 on Wednesday, reaching $123.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,021,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,696,255. The stock's 50 day moving average is $126.21 and its 200-day moving average is $118.24. The stock has a market cap of $88.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.74, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $79.92 and a 52 week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $708,859,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,514,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $736,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098,150 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.