Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 8,341,638 shares, a decline of 17.5% from the February 12th total of 10,107,725 shares. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,176,506 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,176,506 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total transaction of $60,240.44. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,543 shares of company stock valued at $88,910. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 24,602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 37,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of BXMT stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $18.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,253,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,122. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $16.51 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 1.06.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.0%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 289.23%.

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.