Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC Has $54.38 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 352,817 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,161 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 31.6% of Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $54,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $1,071,348,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE BX opened at $113.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.79. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $131.10 and its 200 day moving average is $148.91.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. HSBC lowered their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.86.

Blackstone 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.