Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CEO Sells $38,493.36 in Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total transaction of $38,493.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,578.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE:BXMT opened at $17.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.05. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.73 and a one year high of $23.82. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 581.17 and a beta of 1.44.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.22%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8,266.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,096,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,316,000 after buying an additional 289,643 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,643,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $405,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,470,412 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 78,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 43,673 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 54.2% in 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 during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.