Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,096,110 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 223,461 shares during the quarter. Blackstone Mortgage Trust makes up about 1.5% of Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. owned 0.63% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $19,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 70,381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 9,405 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $350,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth about $883,000. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BXMT traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.73. 317,768 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,216. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of -15.98 and a beta of 1.22. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.51 and a twelve month high of $21.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.83.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.04%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's payout ratio is -160.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.

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.