Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,200,000 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the February 28th total of 17,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.5 days. Approximately 8.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BXMT shares. UBS Group lifted 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 note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.83.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 838,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,607,000 after acquiring an additional 20,487 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 121,633 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $883,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake 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 worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.8 %

BXMT traded down $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $19.51. 1,198,800 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,781,999. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.96. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $16.53 and a twelve month high of $21.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -16.68 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 9.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.68%.

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.