Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 814.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $95,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 114.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 246,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,095,760.40. The trade was a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 5,652 shares of company stock worth $116,971 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.25.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $18.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of -16.04 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.83. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.51 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.68%.

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.