Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Marcin Urbaszek Sells 864 Shares

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Marcin Urbaszek sold 864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.42, for a total value of $11,594.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 23,960 shares in the company, valued at $321,543.20. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:BXMT opened at $13.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.83, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.10 and a 12-month high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently 2,088.89%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth about $537,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth about $815,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BXMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates and holds senior mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate. Its lending activities primarily focus on transitional and institutional-quality properties, including office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and other commercial assets.

The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major real estate markets in the United States, Europe and Australia. Its loans are generally floating-rate and are designed to provide financing for acquisitions, refinancings, renovations, development and other commercial real estate activities.

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