Short Interest in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Declines By 12.8%

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 5,627,512 shares, a decline of 12.8% from the January 15th total of 6,455,398 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,880,369 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,880,369 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,149,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,597,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,843 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,731,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504,617 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,476,000 after purchasing an additional 832,179 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,160.9% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 869,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,680,000 after buying an additional 800,969 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,890,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,773,000 after acquiring an additional 602,417 shares during the last quarter. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BXSL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 28th. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.13.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Down 1.5%

BXSL opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.26. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52 week low of $24.05 and a 52 week high of $34.64.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

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.