Cerity Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,398,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $320,316,000 after purchasing an additional 63,338 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $149,752,000 after acquiring an additional 652,537 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,315,000 after acquiring an additional 801,083 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,662,000. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,096,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,083,000 after acquiring an additional 223,461 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 6,931 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.13, for a total value of $132,590.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 236,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,164.82. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 1,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total value of $29,126.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 64,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,374.40. This trade represents a 2.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,248 shares of company stock worth $177,028. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $19.23 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.17. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.79 and a beta of 1.10. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.51 and a 12-month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.78%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -408.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BXMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.10.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust 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.