Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 36,844 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 36,844 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 14,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.67.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $48,086.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $21.09 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.84. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.53 and a 52-week high of $21.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of -18.02 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

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.