Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from six brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of $21.00.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: JPMorgan and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods trimmed price targets but kept bullish ratings, while Zacks and Weiss downgraded the stock; UBS initiated coverage with a buy rating.
• The company also announced a $0.47 quarterly dividend, equal to an 11.1% annualized yield, even as the stock traded near its 52-week low of $16.84.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $28,506.90. Following the transaction, the president owned 72,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,244,385.93. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 6.4% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,696,314 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,229,000 after acquiring an additional 101,701 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 578,444 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,649,000 after acquiring an additional 155,421 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2,836.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 214,626 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,106,000 after purchasing an additional 207,316 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 865,464 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $15,933,000 after purchasing an additional 71,584 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 86,573 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 43,996 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of BXMT stock opened at $16.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.07 and a 200-day moving average of $18.92. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a one year low of $16.84 and a one year high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is 308.20%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc NYSE: BXMT is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm's core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.

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