Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,200,000 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the February 28th total of 17,810,000 shares. Currently, 8.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.5 days.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXMT traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,198,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,999. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.76 and its 200-day moving average is $18.96. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $16.53 and a 12-month high of $21.24. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -16.68 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.64%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently -160.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BXMT. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,662,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,832,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,315,000 after buying an additional 801,083 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 8,601,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $149,752,000 after acquiring an additional 652,537 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 473.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 625,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,882,000 after acquiring an additional 516,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth $8,118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.