Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Price Target Lowered to $20.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $20.50 to $20.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price points to a potential upside of 14.37% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target 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. Four investment 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 presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.75.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE BXMT traded up $0.09 on Monday, hitting $17.49. 3,072,487 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,816,753. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $16.51 and a twelve month high of $21.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.95 and a beta of 1.22. The company's 50 day moving average price is $19.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.85.

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 (EPS) 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 analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,398,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $320,316,000 after purchasing an additional 63,338 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 652,537 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $49,315,000 after buying an additional 801,083 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,134,000 after buying an additional 121,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth $35,662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

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.