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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,810,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the March 15th total of 25,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.83.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $46,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,888,465.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $46,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,888,465.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $46,435.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 194,298 shares in the company, valued at $3,967,565.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,540 shares of company stock valued at $112,642. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,643,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $405,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,470,412 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $38,747,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4,968.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 928,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,187,000 after buying an additional 909,838 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 308.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,143,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,215,000 after acquiring an additional 863,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 7,948,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,074,000 after acquiring an additional 686,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE:BXMT traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.38. 848,238 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,110,504. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $16.83 and a 12-month high of $23.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.42.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.49%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 175.89%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.