Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 39.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 801,083 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 1.64% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $49,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 114.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.90 per share, with a total value of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 182,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,457,679.40. This represents a 5.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BXMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE BXMT traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $18.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,697,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,736,584. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.51 and a 52 week high of $21.24. The stock's 50 day moving average is $19.26 and its 200-day moving average is $18.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.20 and a beta of 1.12.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.92%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -408.70%.

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.