Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Marcin Urbaszek Sells 864 Shares

Key Points

• CFO Marcin Urbaszek sold 864 BXMT shares for approximately $11,595 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, reducing his stake by 3.48% to 23,960 shares.
• Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s stock traded near $13.30, close to its one-year low of $13.10, after the REIT reported quarterly EPS of $0.31—below the $0.41 analyst consensus.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, equivalent to a 14.1% annualized yield, while analysts’ average rating remained “Hold” with a $19.20 price target.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) CFO Marcin Urbaszek sold 864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.42, for a total value of $11,594.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 23,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $321,543.20. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,971,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,580. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.10 and a 1 year high of $20.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.83, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.29.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,088.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,239,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,839,000 after buying an additional 233,357 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $18,109,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 483,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,971 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BXMT. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates and holds senior mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate. Its lending activities primarily focus on transitional and institutional-quality properties, including office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and other commercial assets.

The company's portfolio is concentrated in major real estate markets in the United States, Europe and Australia. Its loans are generally floating-rate and are designed to provide financing for acquisitions, refinancings, renovations, development and other commercial real estate activities.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust is externally managed by BXMT Advisors LLC, an affiliate of Blackstone.

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