Insider Buying: Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Director Purchases 57,050 Shares of Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Director Timothy Steven Johnson acquired 57,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.50 per share, with a total value of $998,375.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 423,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,406,892.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $17.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 584.67 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.90 and a 200 day moving average of $18.69. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $23.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 7.98% and a positive return on equity of 10.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.72%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8,266.67%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,096,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,316,000 after purchasing an additional 289,643 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $38,747,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth $1,222,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 260,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,540,000 after purchasing an additional 91,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 229.8% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 34,659 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.58.

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.