Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Share Price Passes Below 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• BXMT shares fell below their 200-day moving average, trading as low as $13.97 versus the $17.98 average, with the stock last near $14.02.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward caution: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $19.20, while recent actions included downgrades to “strong sell,” “sell,” and “market perform.”
• The REIT missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.31 per share versus $0.41 forecast, but maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.47, equivalent to a 13.4% annualized yield.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) shares passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.98 and traded as low as $13.97. Blackstone Mortgage Trust shares last traded at $14.0150, with a volume of 1,540,098 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BXMT shares. Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.91. The company's fifty day moving average is $16.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.98.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.10). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%.The business had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.32 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.4%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,088.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $28,506.90. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 72,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,244,385.93. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $143,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 218,523 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 24,602 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Kennicott Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennicott Capital Management LLC now owns 36,450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.4% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 249,450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,592,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 6,731 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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