Dark Forest Capital Management LP Takes $425,000 Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 814.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 4,873 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $19.12. 310,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,744,735. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.51 and a twelve month high of $21.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of -16.34 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $19.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.87.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -408.70%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.