HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 46,303 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 46,303 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $2,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 114.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:BXMT traded up $0.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.29. 1,060,009 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,730,025. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of -17.34 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $21.24. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -160.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $48,086.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 248,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,143,680.90. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BXMT. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.67.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.