Wells Fargo & Company Increases Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Price Target to $22.00

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.94% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BXMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.08.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BXMT opened at $19.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 661.00 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $23.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.31 and its 200 day moving average is $18.37.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $466.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 165,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,558.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan acquired 16,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.16 per share, for a total transaction of $274,560.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,414,153.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 165,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,900,558.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,448,135 and sold 1,495 shares valued at $27,899. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,747,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,169,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,875,000 after purchasing an additional 528,950 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 785,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,683,000 after purchasing an additional 140,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,656,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.