Kestra Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 357.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 57,894 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.7% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares during the period. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 96.4% in the first quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 174,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 85,750 shares during the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.2% in the first quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 310,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 170,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,264,000 after purchasing an additional 16,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BXMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $41,917.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,466.12. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $16.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.77. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.62 and a 1-year high of $20.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.