Two Sigma Securities LLC Takes $234,000 Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,398,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $320,316,000 after acquiring an additional 63,338 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,134,000 after buying an additional 121,633 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,662,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,096,110 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,083,000 after buying an additional 223,461 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 976,489 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $17,001,000 after buying an additional 197,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BXMT traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,576,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,747,930. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of -16.36 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $19.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.87. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.51 and a 1-year high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.82%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently -408.70%.

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.