Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,398,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 63,338 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.64% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $320,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,134,000 after purchasing an additional 121,633 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 838,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,607,000 after buying an additional 20,487 shares in the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 511,180 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,900,000 after buying an additional 52,750 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 324,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,648,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 275,716 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $17.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,623,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,813,218. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.69 and a beta of 1.22. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.53 and a 1 year high of $21.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.94%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on BXMT shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.75.

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.