Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Given New $18.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $19.50 to $18.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXMT opened at $18.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.72 and its 200 day moving average is $18.82. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $16.51 and a 1 year high of $21.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.49 and a beta of 1.22.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.38%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently -160.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $48,086.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 248,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,143,680.90. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 187.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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.