Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Invests $1.70 Million in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 89,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. True North Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.7% in the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 44,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 46,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.08.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT opened at $18.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.03 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.55 and a 200 day moving average of $18.17. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.53 and a fifty-two week high of $23.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 165,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,900,558.64. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan bought 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.16 per share, for a total transaction of $274,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 198,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,414,153.60. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 165,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,900,558.64. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 83,050 shares of company stock worth $1,448,135 and have sold 1,495 shares worth $27,899. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.