Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 3.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 649,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 22,638 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $3,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,058,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $437,373,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,981 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,622,683 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,168,000 after buying an additional 328,184 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,908,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,775,000 after buying an additional 1,274,481 shares in the last quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,376,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,861,000 after buying an additional 936,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $15,966,000. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Colliers Securities raised Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medical Properties Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.50.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of MPW stock opened at $4.21 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of -1.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.32. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.92 and a fifty-two week high of $6.55.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -7.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,310.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.46, for a total value of $178,978.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 221,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,997.70. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Medical Properties Trust

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.