Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) Shares Gap Down to $6.24

Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.24, but opened at $5.93. Medical Properties Trust shares last traded at $5.89, with a volume of 3,091,803 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 5.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.65, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.72.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $259.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Medical Properties Trust news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $49,924.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $341,891.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the sale, 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Medical Properties Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 328,184 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Medical Properties Trust by 22.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,274,481 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $33,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,830 shares during the period. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 5,395,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,490,000 after purchasing an additional 329,224 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

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.