Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) President Sells $20,096.25 in Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) President Fernando Pena sold 1,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.65, for a total value of $20,096.25. Following the sale, the president directly owned 70,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,047.55. This trade represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.

Fernando Austin Pena also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 17th, Fernando Pena sold 1,127 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.42, for a total value of $15,124.34.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 1.3%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $11.30. The stock had a trading volume of 3,757,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,472,692. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.92. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $11.11 and a one year high of $20.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.82.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.6%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,088.89%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,109,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 758.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 185,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,546,000 after purchasing an additional 163,577 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,839,000 after purchasing an additional 233,357 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 238,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shikiar Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 96.4% during the first quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 174,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,346,000 after buying an additional 85,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a real estate finance company organized as a real estate investment trust. The company originates and holds senior loans secured by commercial properties, with a focus on institutional-quality assets and experienced real estate sponsors.

Its portfolio primarily consists of floating-rate mortgage loans used to finance acquisitions, refinancings, development and other capital needs for commercial real estate. The properties securing its loans may include office buildings, multifamily communities, hotels, industrial facilities, retail centers and other commercial assets.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust is externally managed by BXMT Advisors L.P., an affiliate of Blackstone.