Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Position Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 854,617 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 15,644 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $17,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 57,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 38,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 187.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,979 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.90 per share, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 182,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,457,679.40. The trade was a 5.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Anthony F. Marone, Jr. sold 1,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total transaction of $29,126.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 64,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,374.40. This represents a 2.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,248 shares of company stock worth $177,028 over the last 90 days. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE BXMT traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 749,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,608,572. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.09. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.51 and a one year high of $21.24. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.26 and a beta of 1.10.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.45%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently -408.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $19.50 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.50.

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.