Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.6 %

BX stock opened at $118.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.47 and its 200 day moving average is $117.74. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $79.92 and a 12-month 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.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 132.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BX. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet lowered Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.92.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 56.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.6% during the first quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in Blackstone by 12.8% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,878,000 after acquiring an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Blackstone

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.