Blackstone (BX) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) is scheduled to be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 18th. Analysts expect Blackstone to post earnings of $1.00 per share for the quarter. Parties interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. On average, analysts expect Blackstone to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $6 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.5 %

Blackstone stock opened at $126.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.91, a PEG ratio of 1.07 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. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.10.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 205.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $42,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 826.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

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.