Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $114.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lowered by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $116.00 to $114.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 1.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.36.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $115.58 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $120.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.78. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $85.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.