On July 27, Blackstone Group LP rose 3.38% in regular trading, trading at 135.33 USD/share, with turnover of approximately $83.52 million. Multiple positive catalysts converged to drive the stock higher.

On the news front, BMO raised its target price on Blackstone from $142 to $150. Meanwhile, the company announced plans to open an office in Kuwait through the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority, with operations expected to commence in Q3. Blackstone further disclosed plans to establish additional offices across Gulf Cooperation Council member states within the next year, accelerating its strategic Middle East footprint following its recently announced Dubai International Financial Centre office.

On the M&A front, SoftBank has emerged as the preferred bidder to acquire Blackstone's stake in payments provider SP.LINKS. Separately, HSBC is reportedly close to selling its Australian lending business to Blackstone, and the firm remains among final bidders for yacht retailer MarineMax. These developments follow strong Q2 results reported July 23, with distributable EPS of $1.52 beating estimates of $1.35 by 12.6%, and total AUM reaching $1.346 trillion.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)