Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.38.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $20.08 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.28 and a 200 day moving average of $19.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90 and a beta of 1.00. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 289.23%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,239,000. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,498.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,594,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,830 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 603,588 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 446,838 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,733,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.