Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Key Points

• Choreo LLC cut its BXMT holdings by 76.2% in the third quarter, selling 177,023 shares and retaining 55,216 shares valued at about $632,000. Institutional investors collectively own 64.15% of the company.
• BXMT reported quarterly EPS of $0.38, beating the $0.24 estimate, but revenue of $141.9 million fell short of expectations. The company cut its quarterly dividend from $0.47 to $0.30 per share, an annualized yield of about 10.5% at the cited price.
• Analyst sentiment was mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $17 average price target. CEO Timothy Johnson and a director bought shares in November.

Choreo LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 76.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,216 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 177,023 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Northside Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,142.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,858 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BXMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Raymond James Financial cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

BXMT opened at $11.44 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average is $12.03 and its 200 day moving average is $16.55. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.11 and a fifty-two week high of $20.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.57, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.14. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 48.18% and a positive return on equity of 9.17%. The business had revenue of $141.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $148.60 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.50 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.5%. This is a decrease from Blackstone Mortgage Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's payout ratio is -84.30%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Timothy Johnson bought 90,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,035,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 617,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,105,850. This represents a 17.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Nassau bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.43 per share, with a total value of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 233,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,668,790.70. The trade was a 4.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,716 shares of company stock worth $46,815. Insiders own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that originates and manages senior loans secured by commercial properties. The company primarily provides floating-rate mortgage financing to owners and sponsors of institutional-quality real estate, earning income from interest and other fees associated with its lending activities.

Its loan portfolio has historically included properties across sectors such as office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and life sciences.

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