45,928 Shares in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT Purchased by Diversify Wealth Management LLC

Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 45,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $876,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BXMT. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 24.4% during the third 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. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,000,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,272,000 after purchasing an additional 304,307 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $38,239,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,607,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,745,000 after purchasing an additional 264,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,354,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,919,000 after purchasing an additional 277,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $28,506.90. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 72,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,244,385.93. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock valued at $95,233 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BXMT shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $17.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.82. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.72 and a fifty-two week high of $20.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 308.20%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust 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.