Legal & General Group Plc Sells 58,204 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 416,211 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 58,204 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.25% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $7,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 578,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,649,000 after acquiring an additional 155,421 shares during the last quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,991,000. Bamco Inc. NY raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,696,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,229,000 after buying an additional 101,701 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2,836.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 214,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,106,000 after acquiring an additional 207,316 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 865,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,933,000 after acquiring an additional 71,584 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $31,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 76,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,136.96. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BXMT shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.38.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BXMT opened at $18.33 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05 and a beta of 0.89. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.67 and a 12-month high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 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.