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. The real estate segment specializes in opportunistic, core+ investments as well as debt investment opportunities collateralized by commercial real estate, and stabilized income-oriented commercial real estate across North America, Europe and Asia. The firm's corporate private equity business pursues transactions throughout the world across a variety of transaction types, including large buyouts,special situations, distressed mortgage loans, mid-cap buyouts, buy and build platforms, which involves multiple acquisitions behind a single management team and platform, and growth equity/development projects involving significant majority stakes in portfolio companies and minority investments in operating companies, shipping, real estate, corporate or consumer loans, and alternative energy greenfield development projects in energy and power, property, dislocated markets, shipping opportunities, financial institution breakups, re-insurance, and improving freight mobility, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, enterprise tech and consumer, as well as consumer technologies. The fund considers investment in Asia and Latin America. It has a three year investment period. Its hedge fund business manages a broad range of commingled and customized fund solutions and its credit business focuses on loans, and securities of non-investment grade companies spread across the capital structure including senior debt, subordinated debt, preferred stock and common equity. Blackstone Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York with additional offices across Asia, Europe and North America.
Blackstone Stock Performance
Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,621,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,373,546. The stock has a market cap of $70.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.36. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $86.97 and a 12-month high of $149.78.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 21st. The asset manager reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.48% and a return on equity of 20.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Blackstone's revenue was up 96.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Blackstone Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 1st will be issued a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 29th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.70%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, April 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Blackstone from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.82.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 4,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.11, for a total value of $424,065.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,311,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,310,582.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 4,236 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.11, for a total transaction of $424,065.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,311,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $131,310,582.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 71,223 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.95, for a total transaction of $6,691,400.85. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,141,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,287,611.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 205,954 shares of company stock worth $11,578,255. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
