Brokerages Set Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Target Price at $19.20

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.20.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BXMT. Zacks Research lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BXMT opened at $14.21 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $15.48 and its 200 day moving average is $17.67. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $13.61 and a 12-month high of $20.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 157.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued 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). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%.The business had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.2%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,088.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Pena sold 2,398 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,466.12. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Also, Director Henry Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $143,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 218,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Kennicott Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Kennicott Capital Management LLC now owns 36,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 249,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 6,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.