Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 121,633 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.47% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $44,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $715,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $375,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,700.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 18,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 17,857 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 167.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after buying an additional 108,409 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $48,086.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 248,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,143,680.90. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 3,345 shares of company stock valued at $68,265 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BXMT. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 2.6 %

BXMT opened at $20.61 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.53 and a twelve month high of $21.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.77.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.12%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company 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.