Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at UBS Group

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

BXMT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT opened at $18.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58 and a beta of 0.89. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $17.67 and a 52 week high of $20.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $31,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 76,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,136.96. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.