Insider Selling: Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Sells $24,809.20 in Stock

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) CFO Marcin Urbaszek sold 1,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $24,809.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $455,520.40. This trade represents a 5.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $18.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.19. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63 and a beta of 0.89. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.4%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 308.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the first 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. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter worth about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BXMT shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.38.

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.