Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.29 EPS

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29, Zacks reports. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of BX opened at $155.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $114.44 billion, a PE ratio of 41.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $170.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.53.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock valued at $65,046,628 and sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $277,000. Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 12.4% in the second quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $227,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.