Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW)

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 6,318 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC grew its position in Medical Properties Trust by 147.1% in the first quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 21,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 12,761 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Medical Properties Trust by 15.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 37,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 5,046 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.3% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 38,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 3,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 43.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 807,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,067,000 after purchasing an additional 246,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 11.2 %

Shares of Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $4.43 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.36. Medical Properties Trust has a 1 year low of $2.92 and a 1 year high of $10.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -63.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Colliers Securities downgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $10.00 to $4.25 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $2.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

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.