Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Given New $20.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXMT traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.97. The stock had a trading volume of 138,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,149,047. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.51 and its 200-day moving average is $20.60. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $16.83 and a 12-month high of $23.82. The company has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 588.33 and a beta of 1.42.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.80%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 8,266.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $46,435.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,967,565.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $46,435.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,298 shares in the company, valued at $3,967,565.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $46,068.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,465.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,540 shares of company stock worth $112,642 over the last 90 days. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,643,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $405,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470,412 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,747,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4,968.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 928,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,187,000 after purchasing an additional 909,838 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,141,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,578,000 after buying an additional 669,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.