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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $10,515.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,378,889.10. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BXMT opened at $20.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.20 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $21.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.65.

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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.34%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.68%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BXMT. Wolfe Research raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.67.

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.