Analysts Set Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) PT at $20.67

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.67.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded 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.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT opened at $20.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.09 and a 200 day moving average of $18.78. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $16.53 and a fifty-two week high of $21.09.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.12%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $48,086.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 248,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,143,680.90. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 3,345 shares of company stock valued at $68,265 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company 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.