Katharine A. Keenan Sells 2,323 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $48,086.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 248,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,143,680.90. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:BXMT opened at $20.05 on Thursday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.53 and a 52-week high of $21.09. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.14 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.66.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -160.68%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True North Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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