AlphaQuest LLC Sells 35,066 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 59.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 35,066 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 54,354 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at $99,000. Crumly & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at $282,000. Finally, Partners Capital Investment Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% during the third quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP now owns 43,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.33.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $19.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.13. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.51 and a 1-year high of $21.24. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.6%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 303.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total value of $60,240.44. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 78,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,898.92. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 5,049 shares of company stock valued at $98,716 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

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.