Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,434 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. True North Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 14,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:BXMT opened at $19.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.65 and a 200-day moving average of $18.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -16.97 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.53 and a 52 week high of $21.24.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 9.47%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $48,086.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 248,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,143,680.90. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.