Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Price Target Lowered to $18.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on BXMT. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE BXMT opened at $14.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.59. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $14.11 and a 52 week high of $20.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 161.49 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.9%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,088.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $41,917.04. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,466.12. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,405,000 after purchasing an additional 37,838 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,478 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 28.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,142,000 after purchasing an additional 138,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at about $226,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone Mortgage Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loan growth and portfolio performance were described as encouraging, while management is targeting a reduction of more than 40% in office and pre-2023 loan exposure by year-end. BXMT also plans to expand into the approximately $200 billion homebuilder-finance market, which could improve portfolio diversification over time. Blackstone Mortgage Trust exposure reduction and homebuilder finance article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target to $18 from $19 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying meaningful upside from current levels. The target cut appears to reflect a more cautious valuation rather than a negative fundamental view. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed its “market perform” rating but reduced its price target sharply to $16 from $20. The new target still indicates potential upside, but the reduction signals less confidence in near-term appreciation. Finviz analyst rating report
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were mixed. BXMT reported revenue of $158.1 million, slightly above the $157.3 million consensus, but EPS was reported at $0.31 versus expectations of $0.38. Another earnings measure cited by Zacks showed $0.48 per share, highlighting differences between reporting metrics; nevertheless, realized gains and losses weighed on the quarter’s headline results. Blackstone Mortgage Trust earnings impact article
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings shortfall prompted a broader reassessment of BXMT, with commentary characterizing the quarter as a reason for a downgrade despite strong loan growth and performance. Continued office-market exposure and realized losses remain key investor concerns. Blackstone Mortgage Trust downgrade analysis

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.