Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Price

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $20.50 to $20.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.84% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BXMT. Wolfe Research raised 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. UBS Group lifted 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 note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 4.8 %

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $18.38 on Monday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $16.53 and a 52 week high of $21.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.71 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.94.

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

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 814.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.