QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 3,032 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 210,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,032 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $3,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total transaction of $38,493.36. Following the completion of the sale, 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 link. In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $79,025.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 182,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,207,288.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 83,050 shares of company stock worth $1,448,135 and sold 11,057 shares worth $191,141. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BXMT shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.58.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BXMT traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.50. The company had a trading volume of 991,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,944. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 583.33 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $23.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $466.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.74%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6,266.67%.

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.