Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 5,322 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 183,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,322 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.4% of Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after buying an additional 4,173,971 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Blackstone by 7.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 743,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,422,250. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.15 and a 1 year high of $178.63. The stock has a market cap of $128.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.58, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $155.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade 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 this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.38.

About Blackstone

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.