Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 167,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,077 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 49.6% during the third quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 5,065,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,200 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 93.2% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 204,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 98,807 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $109,000. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the third quarter worth about $2,628,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 284.5% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 195,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 144,370 shares during the period. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $4.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.37. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.92 and a 1-year high of $10.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Medical Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.58%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -63.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPW. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $2.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

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.