Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Trading Down 2.4% - Here's Why

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) dropped 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $31.16 and last traded at $31.20. Approximately 815,761 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 1,046,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXSL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.38.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.74.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 53.91%. The company had revenue of $357.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.40 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's payout ratio is 97.16%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass bought 1,626 shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.78 per share, with a total value of $50,048.28. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 17,403 shares in the company, valued at $535,664.34. This represents a 10.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXSL. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 64.3% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 131,090 shares of the company's stock worth $4,236,000 after buying an additional 51,305 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 202,817 shares of the company's stock worth $6,553,000 after buying an additional 16,652 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 31,259 shares of the company's stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 72,040 shares of the company's stock worth $2,328,000 after buying an additional 9,165 shares during the period. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).