Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $590,000 Stock Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 621 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $172,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research 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 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT opened at $20.71 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.53 and a twelve month high of $21.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.70 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.08%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is -160.68%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

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.