Katharine A. Keenan Sells 2,315 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BXMT traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,806,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,395. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.79. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $21.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -17.89 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. True North Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BXMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.