Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s (BXMT) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $23.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BXMT. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.07.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $19.70 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $16.70 and a 52-week high of $23.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 656.67 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.59%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8,266.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total transaction of $38,493.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,578.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $79,025.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,207,288.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $38,493.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,578.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,057 shares of company stock valued at $191,141. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,470,412 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,747,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $169,074,000 after acquiring an additional 686,881 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,169,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,875,000 after purchasing an additional 528,950 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth $6,355,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.