Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) dropped 4.8% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $11.73 and last traded at $11.7250. 753,952 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 1,742,037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $158.06 million for 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, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently 2,088.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Henry Nassau bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $143,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 218,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $537,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $815,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.