Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 466,296 Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 466,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,118,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 814.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 114.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $19.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.44 and a 200-day moving average of $18.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.24 and a beta of 1.22. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.89%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is -408.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BXMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total transaction of $47,920.50. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.