Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) from a "hold" to a "strong‑buy", while MarketBeat's analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a $21.13 consensus target price.
• Shares opened at $19.00, the company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion and a P/E of 29.24, trading in a 52‑week range of $16.51 to $20.67 (50‑/200‑day SMAs roughly $19.30/$19.15).
• President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares at an average $19.24 (reducing his position by 3.83%); insiders own about 1.02% of the stock while institutional/hedge fund ownership is ~64.15%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BXMT. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE:BXMT opened at $19.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.15. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $16.51 and a 1 year high of $20.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total value of $60,240.44. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 78,633 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,898.92. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at $37,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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