Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 848 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 848 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 10,652.0% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 2,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,663 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4,986.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 6,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.93.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT stock opened at $17.91 on Thursday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.85 and a 12 month high of $23.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 596.83 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.38.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.85%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8,266.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.