Legal & General Group Plc Sells 404,832 Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. $MPW

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,807,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 404,832 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.63% of Medical Properties Trust worth $16,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 25.0% during the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 188,994 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.7% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 32,690 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 20.8% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Down 0.3%

Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $5.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.51 and a twelve month high of $6.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 1.42.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). Medical Properties Trust had a negative net margin of 155.20% and a negative return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $237.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.89 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. Medical Properties Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. This is an increase from Medical Properties Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -30.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Medical Properties Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

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.