Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Shares Acquired by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Finally, Wealthstar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BXMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.64.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $20.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of -17.31 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.40 and its 200 day moving average is $18.50. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $21.09.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.28%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio 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.