Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 3,314 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 132% compared to the typical volume of 1,426 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.75 to $24.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $23.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.78.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass purchased 2,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.80 per share, with a total value of $49,861.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 25,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,546.60. This represents a 9.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 11.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,820,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,476,000 after buying an additional 832,179 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 112.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,149,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,597,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,843 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of 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 period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $94,760,000. Finally, Northeast Financial Consultants Inc boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,359,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,305,000 after acquiring an additional 216,835 shares during the last quarter. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BXSL traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $22.88. 983,866 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,270,428. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.18. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 12 month low of $22.47 and a 12 month high of $31.87.

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

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.5%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s dividend payout ratio 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.