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

Key Points

• Oppenheimer raised its price target on Blackstone to $156 with an "outperform" rating, implying roughly 27.5% upside from current levels.
• Blackstone beat Q1 estimates with $1.36 EPS (vs. $1.34) and $3.62B revenue, announced a $1.16 quarterly dividend, and reported record fee‑earning AUM (~$937.6B), supporting positive near‑term sentiment.
• Significant investor activity: Norges Bank initiated a ~ $1.28B position and a major insider purchased 2.87M shares (~$75M), while institutions now own about 70% of the stock.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $154.00 to $156.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Oppenheimer's price target would indicate a potential upside of 27.52% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $158.00 to $118.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $161.00 to $143.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. HSBC lowered their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Blackstone from $179.00 to $176.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $153.86.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $122.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock's fifty day moving average is $116.77 and its 200-day moving average is $138.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $417,620,000 after buying an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: BX reported $1.36 EPS and $3.62B revenue, topping estimates and showing distributable earnings and fee‑earning AUM growth (fee‑earning AUM $937.6B; total AUM ~$1.3T). This is the primary catalyst supporting the stock today. BX's Q1 Earnings Top as AUM Hits Record High Despite Tough Environment
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share (annualized yield ~3.8%), payable May 11 with an ex‑dividend date of May 4 — supports income investors and helps near‑term demand for the shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Portfolio/strategic activity: Blackstone‑backed Kindle Energy broke ground on a $1.2B power plant, highlighting continued deal activity in energy transition and infrastructure funds. Kindle Energy Breaks Ground on Blackstone-Backed $1.2 Billion Natural Gas Power Generation Facility in West Virginia
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings/ASR paperwork and transcripts were published (earnings call transcript and slide deck) — useful for modeling but largely confirmatory for the market. Blackstone Inc. (BX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts trimmed targets: Citizens JMP cut its target slightly (still a market‑outperform) and Morgan Stanley lowered its target to $184 — modestly negative to sentiment but not a dramatic downgrade. Morgan Stanley Lowers Blackstone NYSE: BX Price Target to $184.00
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit headwinds: a Blackstone private‑credit fund marked down ACI Group holdings, underscoring portfolio‑level credit sensitivity that could pressure future distributable earnings and investor sentiment. Blackstone's private credit fund slashes value of ACI Group holdings
• Negative Sentiment: While headline revenue and EPS beat, some GAAP metrics (reported GAAP EPS) were weaker vs. certain consensus measures, a nuance that may temper momentum among valuation‑sensitive investors. Blackstone NYSE: BX Exceeds Q1 CY2026 Expectations

Blackstone Company Profile

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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