Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 68,209 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 770,229 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 68,209 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.46% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $14,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,608,000. Bamco Inc. NY raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,498.1% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,594,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,696,000 after buying an additional 1,494,830 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.4% in the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,078,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,769,000 after buying an additional 45,871 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.4% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 691,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,307,000 after acquiring an additional 35,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.0% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 645,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,421,000 after acquiring an additional 18,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BXMT opened at $19.62 on Wednesday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.51 and a 1-year high of $21.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently 303.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,049 shares of company stock worth $98,716. Corporate insiders own 1.02% 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.