Kestra Advisory Services LLC Buys 57,894 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 357.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,894 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,405,000 after buying an additional 37,838 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,142,000 after buying an additional 138,469 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $226,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BXMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $16.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.90. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.62 and a 52-week high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.2%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 308.20%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $28,506.90. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 72,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,244,385.93. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

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.