Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Down 17.5% in February

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 8,341,638 shares, a drop of 17.5% from the February 12th total of 10,107,725 shares. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,176,506 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,176,506 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,410,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,082. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40 and a beta of 1.06. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $16.51 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 289.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total value of $60,240.44. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 78,633 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,898.92. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 4,543 shares of company stock valued at $88,910 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,588,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 578,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,649,000 after acquiring an additional 155,421 shares in the last quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,991,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $34,608,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 150,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.13.

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.