World Equity Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

World Equity Group Inc. cut its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,853 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. GFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9,068.6% in the third quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 458,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after acquiring an additional 453,430 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 167.8% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after acquiring an additional 108,409 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at $1,937,000. Centiva Capital LP lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 405.5% in the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 60,128 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 79,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at $883,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $20.26 on Monday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.53 and a 12-month high of $21.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of -17.31 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.28%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

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.