Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 848 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TCG Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 6,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 583,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,405,000 after purchasing an additional 98,334 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.93.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

BXMT stock opened at $17.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 596.83 and a beta of 1.44. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.85 and a 52-week high of $23.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.38.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 8,266.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $46,068.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,888,465.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $46,068.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,465.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $46,435.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,967,565.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,540 shares of company stock worth $112,642 in the last 90 days. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.