Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13), Zacks reports. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $130.26 on Friday. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $145.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.76.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Blackstone stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.72.

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.