Scientech Research LLC Cuts Stake in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Scientech Research LLC lowered its position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 66,256 shares during the quarter. Scientech Research LLC’s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,058,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $437,373,000 after buying an additional 7,084,981 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 4.0% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 328,184 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 22.6% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,274,481 shares during the period. Coatue Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 6,806,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,830 shares during the period. Finally, Wilsey Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 27.2% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 936,631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medical Properties Trust news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $89,921.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,637 shares in the company, valued at $239,310.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman purchased 8,087 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.01 per share, for a total transaction of $48,602.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 76,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $461,207.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $89,921.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,310.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of MPW stock opened at $5.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.06 and a 200 day moving average of $4.82. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2.92 and a 52 week high of $6.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.60, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.75). The business had revenue of $266.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Colliers Securities raised Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medical Properties Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.22.

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.