Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT)

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 2,989 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 66% compared to the typical volume of 1,798 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BXMT opened at $21.09 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.84. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $16.53 and a 1-year high of $21.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of -18.02 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 8.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -160.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $48,086.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 248,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,143,680.90. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True North Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.