Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Up 60.8% in March

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 12,576,160 shares, a growth of 60.8% from the March 15th total of 7,821,043 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,861,939 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.8 days. Approximately 7.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $31,454.08. Following the transaction, the president owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 37,838 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 138,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth $226,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.9%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $19.77. 976,768 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,693,798. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.22 and a 200 day moving average of $19.11. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12 month low of $17.67 and a 12 month high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.5%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 289.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.