Insider Selling: Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Sells 508 Shares of Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $10,515.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 66,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,378,889.10. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

BXMT traded down $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.13. 1,821,205 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,742,646. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.53 and a 1 year high of $21.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.20 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.34%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently -160.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,662,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,315,000 after purchasing an additional 801,083 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $149,752,000 after purchasing an additional 652,537 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 473.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 625,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,882,000 after purchasing an additional 516,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $8,118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.71.

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.