Insider Selling: Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Sells 506 Shares of Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.65, for a total value of $10,448.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,365,109.55. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE BXMT opened at $21.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.01 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.83. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $21.18.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,844 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 814.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 4,873 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BXMT shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

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.