Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

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

Blackstone Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $118.40 on Friday. Blackstone has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 132.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 56.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its position in Blackstone by 34.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 10.4% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Insight Advisors LLC PA raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,341,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 4,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.