Traders Purchase Large Volume of Blackstone Mortgage Trust Call Options (NYSE:BXMT)

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 2,989 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 66% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,798 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,662,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $49,315,000 after buying an additional 801,083 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $149,752,000 after buying an additional 652,537 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 473.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 625,060 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,882,000 after buying an additional 516,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,118,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $20.66. 353,280 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,754,346. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $16.53 and a twelve month high of $21.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.87. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of -17.66 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.10%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BXMT. UBS Group increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.