Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Takes $557,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.8% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 57,398 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,789,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 11.7% in the third quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 46,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,146,000 after buying an additional 4,880 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 23,815 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,647,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.6% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 83,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,809,000 after buying an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $168.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 343,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,430,936. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.43 and a 12 month high of $175.94. The stock has a market cap of $120.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Blackstone Company 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.