Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT Shares Purchased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 86.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 124,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,914 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 24.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 603,588 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,000,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,272,000 after buying an additional 304,307 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth $38,239,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,607,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,745,000 after buying an additional 264,256 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,354,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,919,000 after buying an additional 277,280 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:BXMT opened at $14.16 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.73 and a 1 year high of $20.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.34, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.03 and a 200-day moving average of $18.42.

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.3%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,088.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BXMT. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $28,506.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 72,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,244,385.93. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $143,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 218,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 over the last 90 days. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.