Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 70,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,346,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 24,602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Kennicott Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Kennicott Capital Management LLC now owns 36,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.4% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 249,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 6,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president directly owned 72,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,244,385.93. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE BXMT opened at $17.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.90. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.88 and a 52 week high of $20.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.03.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 308.20%.

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.