Legal & General Group Plc Sells 448,042 Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,205,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 448,042 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $16,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MPW. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 8,338 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $82,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 172.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 33,758 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 21,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 21.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,704,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,973,000 after acquiring an additional 303,628 shares during the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

MPW opened at $5.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.27. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.51 and a 12 month high of $6.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.79.

Medical Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -8.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.64.

Medical Properties Trust 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.