Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Sells 16,964 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Financial LLC has significantly reduced its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 42.4%, selling 16,964 shares to now hold 23,060 shares valued at $461,000.
• Other institutional investors such as Principal Financial Group and Janney Montgomery Scott have increased their stakes in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, indicating a mixed sentiment among investors.
• Blackstone Mortgage Trust has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47, representing a dividend yield of 10.0%, despite experiencing significant fluctuations in its stock price.

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 42.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,060 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 16,964 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $149,752,000 after purchasing an additional 652,537 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $49,315,000 after purchasing an additional 801,083 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,096,110 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,083,000 after purchasing an additional 223,461 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 976,489 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 197,154 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $17,092,000 after purchasing an additional 15,644 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.33. 390,469 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,479,079. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -276.07 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.7%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is -2,685.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 1,517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total transaction of $29,126.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 64,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,374.40. This represents a 2.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 6,931 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total transaction of $132,590.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 236,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,164.82. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,248 shares of company stock worth $177,028. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, 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 on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.00.

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.