Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BXSL)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 2,204 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 84% compared to the average daily volume of 1,199 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 135.1% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 109.6% during the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BXSL. Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.13.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:BXSL opened at $24.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.43. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $33.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.78.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $196.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.59 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 11.82%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.20%.

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.