Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,434 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.06% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True North Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 14,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,760.40. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXMT opened at $19.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.97 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.53 and a 1 year high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. Analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.