Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 275,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,790,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 165,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,900,558.64. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan purchased 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.16 per share, with a total value of $274,560.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,414,153.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.52 per share, for a total transaction of $175,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 165,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,558.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,448,135 and sold 1,495 shares valued at $27,899. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of BXMT stock opened at $19.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 661.00 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.31 and a 200-day moving average of $18.36. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $23.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 7.98% and a positive return on equity of 10.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.48%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6,266.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on BXMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.08.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

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.