Van ECK Associates Corp Has $15.74 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 4.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 823,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 38,436 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $15,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth $39,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 98.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 4,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BXMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.08.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $18.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.22 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.66 and its 200 day moving average is $18.15. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $23.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.52 per share, for a total transaction of $175,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 165,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,900,558.64. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,495 shares of company stock worth $27,899. Company insiders own 0.93% 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.