Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Invests $405,000 in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 23,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $35,662,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $4,952,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 815,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,202,000 after acquiring an additional 141,573 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,534,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,134,000 after purchasing an additional 121,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,937,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BXMT shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was 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 $5,095,760.40. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE BXMT opened at $18.38 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of -15.71 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.94. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.68%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.