Fernando Austin Pena Sells 1,666 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $31,454.08. Following the sale, the president directly owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,136.96. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $18.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 904,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,464,720. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.12. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.51 and a 52 week high of $20.67. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27 and a beta of 1.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 289.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 24,602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.3% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 19,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BXMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.13.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.