First Trust Advisors LP Buys 163,577 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its BXMT position by 758.3% in the first quarter, purchasing 163,577 additional shares for a total holding of 185,148 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 64.15% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: BXMT has an average “Hold” rating and a $19.20 target price, while JPMorgan reduced its target to $18 and several firms recently downgraded the stock.
• BXMT reported quarterly EPS of $0.31, below the $0.41 consensus estimate, while revenue of $158.06 million slightly exceeded expectations. The company paid a $0.47 quarterly dividend, representing a 13.5% annualized yield.

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 758.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 185,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 163,577 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.11% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $3,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacific Sun Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 50.2% during the first quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp now owns 40,595 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 13,565 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 42.6% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,840 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 2,042 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 100.8% in the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 51,448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 25,828 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the first quarter valued at $4,845,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,901 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,763,000 after acquiring an additional 19,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BXMT. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,466.12. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 over the last quarter. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 3.1%

BXMT opened at $13.98 on Thursday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.84 and a 1-year high of $20.67. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.29 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.49.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The firm had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.5%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's payout ratio is currently 2,088.89%.

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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