Pacific Capital Partners Ltd Makes New Investment in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Key Points

• Pacific Capital Partners Ltd has acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc., purchasing 200,000 shares valued at approximately $4 million, which constitutes about 2.5% of its portfolio.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Balyasny Asset Management L.P., increased their holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter.
• Blackstone Mortgage Trust recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47, representing an annual yield of 9.70%, although its payout ratio is notably negative at -408.70%.

Pacific Capital Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 200,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,000,000. Blackstone Mortgage Trust accounts for 2.5% of Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd owned about 0.12% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,398,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $320,316,000 after buying an additional 63,338 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $149,752,000 after buying an additional 652,537 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 801,083 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,662,000. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 223,461 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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 restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.9%

BXMT traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.64. 1,983,694 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,058,067. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $19.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.51 and a 12-month high of $21.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -266.29 and a beta of 1.10.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently -2,685.71%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust 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.