Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL)

Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 106,782 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 252% compared to the average daily volume of 30,366 put options.

More Blue Owl Capital News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blue Owl Capital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” on Blue Owl and called some headlines overreactions, signaling at least one major institutional analyst views the redemption action as manageable and not a fundamental collapse. Raymond James reaffirms strong-buy
• Positive Sentiment: Blue Owl-backed deal activity: the firm led the Series E for Vestwell and joined Fundbox and ATLAS as a lender, showing continued originations, syndication relationships and private-capital deal flow that support fee-generation potential. Vestwell Series E led by Blue Owl
• Positive Sentiment: Subsidiary results and capital actions: Blue Owl Technology Finance (OTF) and Blue Owl Capital Corporation (OBDC) posted December-quarter results showing NII, NAV stability, dividend declarations and sizable share-repurchase programs — evidence of underlying cash generation and active capital management. OBDC Q4 results and capital returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Certain Blue Owl BDCs agreed to sell $1.4B of direct-lending investments to institutional investors at ~99.7% of par, which returns capital to holders of retail vehicles but raises questions about portfolio positioning and who retains illiquidity risk. BDC asset sale to institutional investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes that the loan sale generated $1.4B for investor payouts — a liquidity event that helps meet distributions but also spotlights the mechanics of moving retail-exposed assets into institutional hands. Bloomberg: loan sale raises $1.4B
• Negative Sentiment: Blue Owl permanently halted quarterly redemptions from its OBDC II retail private-credit fund, triggering investor concern about liquidity in retail private-credit products and a direct hit to market confidence in OWL’s retail-facing strategies. FT: halts redemptions at retail private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market and media scrutiny: outlets including WSJ, Reuters and CNBC highlighted the redemption halt and the related $1.4B asset transfer — coverage is framing this as a warning for retail private-credit distribution and raising questions about potential contagion across similar products. WSJ: private-credit warning signs after asset unload
• Negative Sentiment: Immediate market reaction: trading has been heavy and the shares are trading lower as investors price in redemption risk, reputational damage in retail channels, and potential future outflows or regulatory scrutiny. 247WallSt: OWL tumbles after halting withdrawals

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OWL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Blue Owl Capital from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Blue Owl Capital from $18.00 to $16.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Blue Owl Capital from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.57.

Blue Owl Capital Price Performance

NYSE OWL opened at $11.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.14. Blue Owl Capital has a 52-week low of $10.88 and a 52-week high of $23.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11.

Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $701.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.75 million. Blue Owl Capital had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 2.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Owl Capital will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blue Owl Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.8%. Blue Owl Capital’s payout ratio is 900.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Craig Packer acquired 110,227 shares of Blue Owl Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,660,018.62. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 94,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,640. This trade represents a -679.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas I. Ostrover purchased 139,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.06 per share, with a total value of $2,098,264.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 158,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,379,480. This represents a 746.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 395,670 shares of company stock worth $5,952,393 over the last quarter. 27.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Blue Owl Capital by 117.0% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners bought a new position in Blue Owl Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in shares of Blue Owl Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Roxbury Financial LLC increased its stake in Blue Owl Capital by 383.6% during the 4th quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 1,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Lavaca Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blue Owl Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 35.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blue Owl Capital Company Profile

Blue Owl Capital is a global alternative asset manager that focuses on private credit, direct lending and equity-related strategies for institutional investors. Headquartered in New York, the firm develops and manages a range of private markets products designed to provide capital solutions to middle-market and larger corporate borrowers, as well as liquidity and partnership arrangements with private equity firms and other alternative managers.

Its core activities include direct lending and credit strategies that provide senior, unitranche and other structured loan products to companies across industries.