Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Increases Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 98.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $79,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 6,406 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,729 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,850,000 after acquiring an additional 106,670 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $145,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 260,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,540,000 after acquiring an additional 91,526 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $79,025.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at $3,207,288.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $79,025.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at $3,207,288.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.52 per share, for a total transaction of $175,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 165,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,900,558.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 83,050 shares of company stock worth $1,448,135 and have sold 6,502 shares worth $114,741. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.58.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE BXMT opened at $18.43 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 614.33 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.39. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.53 and a 1-year high of $23.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.20%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6,266.67%.

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.