Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.1% of Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $146.76 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $107.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

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.