Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98, RTT News reports. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $1.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.40. 4,161,306 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,894,347. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $126.47 and a 200-day moving average of $117.74. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $125.62 per share, for a total transaction of $301,488.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $25,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 826.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.