Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 3,314 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 132% compared to the average volume of 1,426 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass bought 2,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 approximately $597,546.60. The trade was a 9.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter worth $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Up 0.8%

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock opened at $23.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.37. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $22.47 and a 52-week high of $31.87.

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

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BXSL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.75 to $24.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.78.

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.