Swiss National Bank Grows Holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 324,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $5,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 838,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,607,000 after buying an additional 20,487 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,134,000 after buying an additional 121,633 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $821,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $883,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $20.71 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.87. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.70 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.08%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.67.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.