Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BXSL)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 3,314 put options on the company. This is an increase of 132% compared to the typical volume of 1,426 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.75 to $24.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $23.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.78.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass bought 2,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.80 per share, for a total transaction of $49,861.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,107 shares in the company, valued at $597,546.60. The trade was a 9.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the first quarter valued at $38,000. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock opened at $23.16 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.15. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $31.87. The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.37.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 31.63%.The firm had revenue of $254.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.15 million. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.3%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 161.26%.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) is a closed-end management investment company sponsored by Blackstone Credit, the credit-oriented business of Blackstone Inc Launched in May 2020, BXSL seeks to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation. The fund raises capital from institutional and retail investors and deploys it into a diversified portfolio of senior secured loans and other credit instruments.

The fund’s principal investment focus is on first-lien senior secured loans and unitranche debt extended to middle-market companies across North America.