Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. currently holds an average broker rating of "Hold", with one sell, four holds, and one buy recommendation from analysts.
• CEO Katharine A. Keenan recently sold 4,593 shares of the company's stock for approximately $89,517, decreasing her ownership by 1.96%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, representing an annualized yield of 10.0% to be paid on October 15th.

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.50.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,593 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.49, for a total transaction of $89,517.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,482,816.94. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 8,818 shares of company stock valued at $171,190 over the last ninety days. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,598,933 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,979,000 after purchasing an additional 63,953 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,101,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $34,608,000. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,498.1% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,594,613 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,078,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $20,769,000 after buying an additional 45,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.8%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.85. 1,588,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,501,162. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.18. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $16.51 and a 12-month high of $21.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of -269.23 and a beta of 1.15.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2,685.71%.

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.

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