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

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 112,844 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 78% compared to the average daily volume of 63,487 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Colliers Securities downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $4.25 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $2.00 to $5.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.80.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of Medical Properties Trust stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.32. 32,861,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,337,709. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.39. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $2.92 and a twelve month high of $10.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.98, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.10.

Medical Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -27.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 93.2% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 376,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 4,546,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,321,000 after acquiring an additional 228,716 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 378,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 18,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Medical Properties Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

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.