Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 76,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,326,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,812 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at about $196,000. Atom Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at about $410,000. Centiva Capital LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 79,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 70,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of BXMT opened at $19.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.96. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.53 and a 1-year high of $21.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of -17.03 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted 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 negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.44%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BXMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.