Welch Group LLC Has $8.18 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,206 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone 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 acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $138.45. 6,190,012 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,794,766. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $135.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.15. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 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 company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

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.