Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Releases Earnings Results

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $120.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.66 and a 200-day moving average of $117.66. The company has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 65.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone 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 transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Blackstone 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 transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 826.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. 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.