Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. Sells 506 Shares

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.65, for a total transaction of $10,448.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 66,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,109.55. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

NYSE BXMT traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $20.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,806,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,395. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -17.89 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.53 and a fifty-two week high of $21.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.79.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.98%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BXMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,662,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,315,000 after acquiring an additional 801,083 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $149,752,000 after acquiring an additional 652,537 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 473.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 625,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,882,000 after buying an additional 516,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,118,000. 64.15% of the stock is 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.