Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases New Stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 48,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 95,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 6.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 20,551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 14.1% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 14,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.4% during the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 23,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $13.30 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.10 and a 1-year high of $20.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $14.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.26. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.83, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.1%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,088.89%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, Director Henry Nassau bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $143,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 218,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Fernando Pena sold 2,398 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04. Following the sale, the president directly owned 74,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,466.12. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,059 shares of company stock valued at $97,143. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates and holds senior mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate. Its lending activities primarily focus on transitional and institutional-quality properties, including office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and other commercial assets.

The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major real estate markets in the United States, Europe and Australia. Its loans are generally floating-rate and are designed to provide financing for acquisitions, refinancings, renovations, development and other commercial real estate activities.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust is externally managed by BXMT Advisors LLC, an affiliate of Blackstone.