Henry Nassau Acquires 10,000 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Director Henry Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 2.3%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $14.16 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.73 and a 12 month high of $20.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.03 and its 200-day moving average is $18.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.34, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.3%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,088.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BXMT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 758.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 185,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,546,000 after buying an additional 163,577 shares in the last quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 96.4% in the 1st quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 174,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after buying an additional 85,750 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 238,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,575,000 after acquiring an additional 102,904 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,845,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 86,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 43,996 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.