Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Purchased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 104,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 17,054 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $2,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,136,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,716,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,643,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $405,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,470,412 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 78,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 43,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,141,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,578,000 after purchasing an additional 669,172 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.17.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT opened at $18.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.71. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.83 and a 1 year high of $23.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.42.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $46,068.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,888,465.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $46,435.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,298 shares in the company, valued at $3,967,565.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $46,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,465.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,540 shares of company stock worth $112,642 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

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.