Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) from “sell” to “hold”, adding to a mixed set of analyst opinions on the stock.
• Other firms have recently cut their targets or ratings, including RBC, Wells Fargo, Zacks Research, B. Riley, and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Overall, BXSL now has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $24.75.
• The stock opened at $23.85 and sits near its recent moving averages, while the company last reported EPS of $0.77, topping estimates by $0.02. An insider also bought shares recently, and institutional investors own about 36.49% of the stock.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

BXSL has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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 note on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $23.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.75.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

NYSE BXSL opened at $23.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.37. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a 52-week low of $22.47 and a 52-week high of $32.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.38.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass acquired 2,095 shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.80 per share, for a total transaction of $49,861.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 25,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $597,546.60. This represents a 9.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 139.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 10,696 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 90,513 shares of the company's stock worth $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 12,450 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter valued at about $2,122,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 568.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 17,248 shares during the period. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter worth about $455,000. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

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.

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