Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Price Target Raised to $20.50

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $19.50 to $20.50 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

BXMT has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group raised 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $19.92 on Monday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $16.53 and a 1 year high of $21.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.03 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.76 and a 200 day moving average of $18.96.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.44%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,662,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,315,000 after acquiring an additional 801,083 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $149,752,000 after acquiring an additional 652,537 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 473.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 625,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,882,000 after acquiring an additional 516,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $8,118,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.