TD Cowen Upgrades Blackstone (NYSE:BX) to Buy

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was upgraded by analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $230.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price target of $149.00. TD Cowen’s price target suggests a potential upside of 21.33% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.25.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $189.56 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $173.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.64. The firm has a market cap of $136.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.14, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $112.09 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.