Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 818,486 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 37,772 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust worth $15,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BXMT. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $883,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at about $350,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter worth about $63,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth about $1,937,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 70,381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 9,405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE BXMT traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,728,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,653. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.53 and a 1-year high of $22.16. The company's 50-day moving average is $18.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.88 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's payout ratio is presently -135.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BXMT. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.07.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust 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.