Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,700,000 shares, a drop of 9.4% from the June 30th total of 27,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BXMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.58.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.65. 2,266,618 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,152,835. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 588.33 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.81. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $16.70 and a 1 year high of $23.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 7.98% and a positive return on equity of 10.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 6,266.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $79,025.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,207,288.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $79,025.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,207,288.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $39,123.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 187,468 shares in the company, valued at $3,194,454.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,057 shares of company stock worth $191,141 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 7,948,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,074,000 after purchasing an additional 686,881 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $53,850,000 after buying an additional 106,670 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,747,000. LDR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. LDR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,796,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,206,000 after acquiring an additional 35,056 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,169,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,875,000 after acquiring an additional 528,950 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.