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

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 3,201 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 754% compared to the average daily volume of 375 call options.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BXSL traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.03. The stock had a trading volume of 173,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 934,105. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a twelve month low of $27.23 and a twelve month high of $32.67. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.69.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.01). Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 58.08%. The firm had revenue of $327.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.93%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is currently 79.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BXSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 1,466.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Clear Point Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 15.9% in the second quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.49% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

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).