Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,662,291 shares, a decline of 31.3% from the December 31st total of 9,693,125 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,566,373 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,566,373 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total value of $60,240.44. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 78,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,512,898.92. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 5,049 shares of company stock worth $98,716 over the last 90 days. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,608,000. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,498.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,594,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,830 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,082,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,740,000 after acquiring an additional 603,588 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,077,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,838,000 after acquiring an additional 446,838 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter valued at about $5,775,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BXMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.33.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BXMT traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $19.25. 2,391,071 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,336,638. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04 and a beta of 1.07. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $16.51 and a 52-week high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $132.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.56 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 4.06% and a net margin of 7.53%. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 303.23%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.