JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Price Target to $18.00

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.80% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday. UBS Group started coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of BXMT stock traded down $0.43 on Friday, hitting $14.54. 3,654,132 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,535,204. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 0.90. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a one year low of $14.11 and a one year high of $20.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.62.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 6.11%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $28,506.90. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 72,899 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock valued at $95,233. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 259.8% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone Mortgage Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted loan growth and generally solid portfolio performance. Blackstone Mortgage Trust also plans to cut office and pre-2023 loan exposure by more than 40% by year-end while expanding into the roughly $200 billion homebuilder-finance market, which could improve portfolio diversification. Blackstone Mortgage Trust targets office and pre-2023 exposure reduction
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly revenue of $158.1 million was slightly above the $157.3 million consensus estimate. One earnings measure cited by Zacks was $0.48 per share, above its $0.38 estimate and up from $0.19 a year earlier. Blackstone Mortgage Trust surpasses Q2 estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed its “Market Perform” rating, indicating no expected near-term outperformance, while maintaining a $16 price target. The target was reduced from $20, reflecting a more cautious valuation outlook but still implying potential upside from recent levels. Keefe, Bruyette and Woods price target update
• Negative Sentiment: BXMT’s reported second-quarter EPS was $0.31, below the $0.38 analyst consensus. Realized gains and losses affected earnings, and the miss prompted at least one analyst downgrade despite the company’s loan growth and portfolio performance. Blackstone Mortgage Trust downgrade after second-quarter miss

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.