Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 1,690 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT – Get Rating) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,544,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,800,000 after buying an additional 162,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,483,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,443,000 after purchasing an additional 62,812 shares in the last quarter. LDR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. LDR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,971,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,741,000 after purchasing an additional 90,859 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,916,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,936,000 after purchasing an additional 69,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.6% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,848,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,950,000 after purchasing an additional 277,202 shares in the last quarter. 54.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $24.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $25.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $23.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael B. Nash acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.86 per share, for a total transaction of $943,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 468,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,835,061.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Michael B. Nash acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.86 per share, for a total transaction of $943,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 468,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,835,061.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.81 per share, for a total transaction of $178,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 127,348 shares in the company, valued at $2,268,067.88. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,982,100 over the last three months. 1.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BXMT opened at $17.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.33. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.60 and a 12-month high of $31.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.40.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 163.16%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate finance company, which engages in originating senior loans collateralized by commercial real estate. Its investment objective is to preserve and protect shareholder capital while producing risk-adjusted returns primarily through dividends generated from current income from its loan portfolio.