Sankala Group LLC Invests $562,000 in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 29,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 259.8% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $18.07 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $20.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.19. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63 and a beta of 0.89.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.4%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently 308.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $31,454.08. Following the sale, the president directly owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

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.