Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Issues Earnings Results

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19, Zacks reports. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $176.92 on Friday. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $127.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.80, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.26.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.