JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Price

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $18.50 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.01% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 1.2 %

BXMT opened at $18.32 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.65 and a beta of 1.22. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12 month low of $16.51 and a 12 month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,662,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,315,000 after buying an additional 801,083 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $149,752,000 after acquiring an additional 652,537 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 473.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 625,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,882,000 after acquiring an additional 516,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $8,118,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.