Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) President Fernando Austin Pena Sells 1,127 Shares

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) President Fernando Pena sold 1,127 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.42, for a total value of $15,124.34. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 71,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,180.24. The trade was a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.

Fernando Austin Pena also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 30th, Fernando Pena sold 1,670 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $28,506.90.
• On Thursday, June 25th, Fernando Pena sold 2,398 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 1.4%

BXMT opened at $13.30 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.10 and a 52 week high of $20.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid 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 is currently 2,088.89%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth about $537,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at about $815,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BXMT shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.