Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Sets New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $126.89 and last traded at $131.80, with a volume of 5746356 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.2 %

The company has a market cap of $100.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $138.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.36.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,032,400,000 after buying an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $974,448,000. 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.