Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.02), RTT News reports. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $120.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.66 and a 200-day moving average of $117.66. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $79.92 and a 52 week high of $133.56.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.76%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased 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. TheStreet downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.97.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 826.3% during the second 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 position in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at about $77,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.