Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $173.75 on Wednesday. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $114.88 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $125.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 57.7% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.