Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.93.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BXMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of BXMT stock opened at $18.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 632.00 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $16.70 and a 1-year high of $23.82.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 8,266.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $38,493.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,578.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $38,493.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,578.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $79,025.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at $3,207,288.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,057 shares of company stock valued at $191,141. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,643,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $405,492,000 after buying an additional 2,470,412 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 7,948,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,074,000 after acquiring an additional 686,881 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,729 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,850,000 after acquiring an additional 106,670 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,141,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,578,000 after acquiring an additional 669,172 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,747,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.