Farther Finance Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 1,416.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,631 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 8,996 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.5% in 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 last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 595,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,319,000 after buying an additional 8,444 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 511,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,900,000 after buying an additional 52,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 275,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,800,000 after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $21.08 on Thursday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $21.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.01 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is -160.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value 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 $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BXMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

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.