Citigroup Increases Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $190.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Citigroup from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.39% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BX. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $176.92 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.26. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $115.82 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $526,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 894,657 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,257,000 after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares during the period. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 18,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,018 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 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.