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 Trading Up 2.6 %
Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.79. 2,541,867 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,435,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.92. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $86.97 and a 52-week high of $149.78. The company's 50-day moving average is $98.65 and its 200-day moving average is $111.17.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 21st. The asset manager reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.46 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 22.48%. The company's revenue was up 96.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. Analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Blackstone Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 29th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.70%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $124.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $136.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Blackstone to $102.00 in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Blackstone from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.36.
Insider Activity at Blackstone
In related news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 64,253 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.21, for a total transaction of $2,133,842.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,161,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,581,219.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 64,253 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.21, for a total transaction of $2,133,842.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,161,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,581,219.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Breyer bought 9,326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $107.21 per share, with a total value of $999,840.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,701,103.62. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 205,954 shares of company stock worth $11,578,255 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
