Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Price Target to $29.00

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) had its price target cut by Royal Bank Of Canada from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on BXSL. UBS Group lowered their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.50 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.43.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

NYSE:BXSL opened at $26.68 on Wednesday. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a one year low of $24.85 and a one year high of $34.64. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.52.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $358.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.55 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 42.38% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is presently 115.79%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass purchased 3,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.63 per share, for a total transaction of $100,128.80. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 21,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,677.21. This represents a 21.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CCLA Investment Management boosted its holdings in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 54.1% in the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 3,214,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,986 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 832,179 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,160.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 869,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,680,000 after purchasing an additional 800,969 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 3,142,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,697,000 after purchasing an additional 781,394 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 106.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,166,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,859,000 after purchasing an additional 600,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act).