Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Given New $20.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on BXMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.6%

BXMT stock opened at $19.65 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69 and a beta of 1.08. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $16.51 and a 52 week high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 4.06% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm had revenue of $132.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.56 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 303.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.49, for a total value of $89,517.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,482,816.94. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,503 shares of company stock valued at $126,682. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 24.4% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,082,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,740,000 after buying an additional 603,588 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,598,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,979,000 after purchasing an additional 63,953 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth $35,101,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth $34,608,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,696,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,229,000 after buying an additional 101,701 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.