Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 46,303 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $2,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,134,000 after purchasing an additional 121,633 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 167.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 108,409 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $1,937,000. Centiva Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 405.5% during the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 60,128 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 79,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,326,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $20.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of -17.70 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $21.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.86.

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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.