Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Passes Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $19.16 and traded as low as $18.45. Blackstone Mortgage Trust shares last traded at $18.7510, with a volume of 1,823,660 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BXMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.13.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.31 and its 200-day moving average is $19.16.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.0%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently 289.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total transaction of $60,240.44. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 78,633 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,898.92. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at about $1,588,000. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at about $2,991,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 578,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,649,000 after acquiring an additional 155,421 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,608,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 101,701 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.