HSBC Lowers Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $174.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at HSBC from $178.00 to $174.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock. HSBC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 17.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $187.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $205.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.05.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $147.91. 150,826 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,565,379. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $152.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.18. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $109.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 68,906 shares in the company, valued at $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 384,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 783,978 shares of company stock valued at $22,058,454 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $568,902,000 after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.