Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.9%, owning approximately 10.52% of the company after selling 345,595 shares during the first quarter, valued at about $361 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, with Balyasny Asset Management L.P. notably raising its position by 39.4% in the last quarter.
• The stock's current consensus rating is "Hold" with a target price around $20.00, although it opened at $18.84 and has experienced a recent decline of 1.1%.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,052,779 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 345,595 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.52% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $361,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 579,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,080,000 after purchasing an additional 54,184 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,326,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 28,866 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 3,273 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 1,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,230,374.40. The trade was a 2.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 6,931 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value 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 represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,248 shares of company stock worth $177,028. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

BXMT stock traded up $0.0350 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.9450. The stock had a trading volume of 210,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,461,150. 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 $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -270.64 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50-day moving average price is $19.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.34.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's 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.