Medical Properties Trust Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 191,032 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 188% compared to the typical daily volume of 66,320 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPW shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Colliers Securities lowered Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $4.25 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medical Properties Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.75.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

Shares of MPW traded up $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $4.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,792,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,864,711. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of -5.20, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Medical Properties Trust has a fifty-two week low of $2.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.37.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is currently -63.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPW. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 5,065,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,609,000 after buying an additional 1,680,200 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 204,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 98,807 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 4th quarter worth $109,000. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $2,628,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 284.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 195,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 144,370 shares in the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023.