Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Stock Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $24.50 to $25.50. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $24.11 and traded as high as $24.24. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund shares last traded at $24.1270, with a volume of 2,782,678 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their price target on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $24.50 to $23.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.83.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the second quarter worth $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 36.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.10. The stock has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.39.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $315.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.81 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 21.51%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. This is a drop from Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 31st. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s payout ratio is presently 256.67%.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL) is a business development company that invests in privately owned middle-market companies. The fund seeks to generate current income and long-term capital appreciation primarily through investments in senior secured, floating-rate loans.

BXSL’s portfolio may also include second-lien loans, unsecured debt and equity investments. Its investments are generally made in companies across a range of industries, with an emphasis on businesses that have established operations and cash flows.