Welch Capital Partners LLC NY Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Welch Capital Partners LLC NY acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 166,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $19,585,000. Blackstone comprises about 3.8% of Welch Capital Partners LLC NY’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $270,380,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $143.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $128.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.