Blackstone shares close higher on Friday, company in negotiations for the acquisition of a 40% stake in Israeli cyber firm NSO

According to a July 23rd report by the Israeli Calcalist business newspaper, Blackstone Group LP (BX) is currently at an advanced stage of negotiations for the acquisition of a 40% stake of NSO Group, an Israeli cyber company. The potential acquisition is valued at $400 million. ClearSky would be a secondary buyer in the deal with a 10% stake, the newspaper reported. A spokesperson for NSO said he was unable to confirm any information.

Blackstone shares closed higher for the ninth time in the past eleven trading sessions on Friday. The stock went up 0.41% ($0.14) to $34.42, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $34.69 and $34.09 respectively. In the week ended on July 23rd the shares of the global alternative asset management company lost 0.06% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the second drop in the past five weeks, but yet, the smallest one in at least a year. The stock has extended its advance to 3.21% so far during the current month, following a 1.43% surge in June. The latter has been a fourth consecutive month of gains. For the entire past year, the shares of the Blackstone Group lost 7.56%.

NSO was formed in 2009 by Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie. The firm specializes in the development of a software that allows mobile devices to collect information.

In 2014, Francisco Partners, a private equity company, paid $120 million to acquire a majority stake in the Israeli tech firm.

Under the terms of the deal, Francisco Partners is to hold a 40% stake in NSO, Blackstone Group and ClearSky – 40% together, while Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie – 6% each.

At the same time, an 8% stake is to be held by the NSO employees.

According to CNN Money, the 16 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding The Blackstone Group LP’s stock price, have a median target of $37.00, with a high estimate of $46.00 and a low estimate of $32.00. The median estimate is a 7.50% surge compared to the closing price of $34.42 on July 21st.

The same media also reported that 12 out of 16 surveyed investment analysts had rated The Blackstone Group LP’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Blackstone stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $34.48
R2 – $34.53
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $34.59
R4 (Long Breakout) – $34.75
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $34.94
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $35.03

S1 – $34.37
S2 – $34.31
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $34.26
S4 (Short Breakout) – $34.09
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $33.90
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $33.81

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for The Blackstone Group LP (BX) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $34.51
R1 – $35.00
R2 – $35.59
R3 – $36.08
R4 – $36.58

S1 – $33.92
S2 – $33.43
S3 – $32.84
S4 – $32.26