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 Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $10,515.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,378,889.10. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT opened at $20.05 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.66. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.53 and a twelve month high of $21.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.14 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its 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, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXMT has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.