Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.3750.

BXMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group initiated 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.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $18.08 on Monday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $20.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63 and a beta of 0.89.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.4%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 308.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 578,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,649,000 after acquiring an additional 155,421 shares during the last quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $2,991,000. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,696,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,229,000 after buying an additional 101,701 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2,836.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 214,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,106,000 after buying an additional 207,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 865,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,933,000 after buying an additional 71,584 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.