Anthony F. Marone, Jr. Sells 1,006 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock

Key Points

• Blackstone Mortgage Trust CFO Anthony Marone, Jr. sold 1,006 shares of stock for approximately $19,596.88, decreasing his position by 1.58% while retaining 62,570 shares valued at over $1.2 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 9.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.
• Recently updated analyst ratings indicate a mix of responses, with two "Buy" ratings and four "Hold" ratings, and an average target price of $20.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 1,006 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.48, for a total transaction of $19,596.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,218,863.60. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE:BXMT traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $19.33. The stock had a trading volume of 5,291,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 853,076. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -276.14 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $19.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.30. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.51 and a 12-month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently -2,685.71%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 854,617 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,092,000 after acquiring an additional 15,644 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,109 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $561,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 19.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 147,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 23,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $819,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.50.

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.