Welch Group LLC Increases Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Welch Group LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,398 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after buying an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $613,581,000 after buying an additional 21,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler downgraded Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $168.80. 209,249 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,430,290. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $90.43 and a one year high of $175.94. The company has a market cap of $120.63 billion, a PE ratio of 59.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $150.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 121.55%.

Blackstone 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.