Wells Fargo & Company Downgrades Blackstone (NYSE:BX) to Equal Weight

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $195.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $188.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.32% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BX. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.69.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $192.46 on Thursday. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $112.09 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.10.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $498,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.4% in the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.