5,000 Shares in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $87,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 6,406 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 260,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,540,000 after purchasing an additional 91,526 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 11,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan purchased 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.16 per share, with a total value of $274,560.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,414,153.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan acquired 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.16 per share, with a total value of $274,560.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 198,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,414,153.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Steven Johnson acquired 57,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.50 per share, for a total transaction of $998,375.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,406,892.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,448,135 and sold 6,502 shares valued at $114,741. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE BXMT opened at $19.21 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.38. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.53 and a 52-week high of $23.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 640.33 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.79%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 8,266.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on BXMT shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.58.

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.