Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Releases Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

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

Blackstone Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $1.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $118.40. The company had a trading volume of 4,161,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,894,347. Blackstone has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. 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 company has a market capitalization of $84.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.74.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 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 (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,133.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RMB Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC now owns 4,531 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 7,187 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer cut shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.92.

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.