Westbourne Investments Inc. Invests $1.10 Million in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Westbourne Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 63,163 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,100,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 814.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 4,873 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BXMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.63. 253,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,723,975. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.51 and a one year high of $21.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $19.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.88. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.91 and a beta of 1.22.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's payout ratio is -408.70%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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.