Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT Shares Purchased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 2,836.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 214,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 207,316 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $4,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,405,000 after acquiring an additional 37,838 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,608,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BXMT shares. Zacks Research raised 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 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $18.67 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.51 and a 12-month high of $20.67. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.12.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 289.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $31,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 76,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.