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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Owl Capital

In related news, CEO Douglas I. Ostrover purchased 139,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,098,264.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 158,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,379,480. This represents a 746.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc S. Lipschultz bought 69,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.06 per share, with a total value of $1,049,124.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 79,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,740. The trade was a 746.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 395,670 shares of company stock worth $5,952,393. 27.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Owl Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OWL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blue Owl Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $183,294,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Owl Capital during the 4th quarter worth $113,782,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Blue Owl Capital by 121.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,153,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,493,000 after acquiring an additional 6,677,610 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Owl Capital by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 90,245,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,272,000 after buying an additional 5,029,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blue Owl Capital by 7.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,916,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,149,833,000 after purchasing an additional 4,968,526 shares in the last quarter. 35.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OWL has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore set a $14.00 price objective on Blue Owl Capital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Owl Capital in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $20.00 price objective on Blue Owl Capital in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Blue Owl Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.57.

Key Stories Impacting Blue Owl Capital

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

Blue Owl Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:OWL opened at $11.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.14. Blue Owl Capital has a one year low of $10.88 and a one year high of $23.98.

Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $701.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.75 million. Blue Owl Capital had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 2.75%. On average, research analysts predict that Blue Owl Capital will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blue Owl Capital Dividend Announcement

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

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.