JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Price Target to $19.00

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $19.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 11.29% from the company’s current price.

BXMT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.8%

BXMT stock opened at $17.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.81. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $16.72 and a 1-year high of $20.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99 and a beta of 0.90.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $28,506.90. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 72,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,244,385.93. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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. Insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the first quarter worth $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.