Apollon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 43,996 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 103.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,996 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC owned 0.05% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $1,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,082,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,740,000 after purchasing an additional 603,588 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 6.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 101,701 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,127,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,760,000 after purchasing an additional 48,767 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,077,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,838,000 after purchasing an additional 446,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 865,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,933,000 after purchasing an additional 71,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $19.77 on Tuesday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.67 and a 1-year high of $20.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.22 and its 200 day moving average is $19.11.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 289.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $31,454.08. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BXMT. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.13.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.