Centaurus Financial Inc. Acquires 3,317 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 18.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 7,948,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,074,000 after purchasing an additional 686,881 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 82.6% in 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 buying an additional 528,950 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 785,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,683,000 after buying an additional 140,102 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,656,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,983,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BXMT opened at $18.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 603.67 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.30. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.53 and a 52 week high of $23.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6,266.67%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BXMT shares. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Henry N. Nassau bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 165,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,900,558.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson acquired 57,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.50 per share, with a total value of $998,375.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at $7,406,892.50. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 165,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,558.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,448,135 and have sold 1,495 shares valued at $27,899. 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.