Medical Properties Trust Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MPW)

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MPW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 4th quarter worth $25,655,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,158,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $774,593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800,294 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 880.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,951,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,536,000 after acquiring an additional 3,548,423 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 4th quarter worth $32,630,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 175.3% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,850,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451,617 shares in the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Up 5.0 %

MPW opened at $5.01 on Friday. Medical Properties Trust has a 12 month low of $2.92 and a 12 month 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 $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.37.

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 given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -63.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MPW shares. BNP Paribas raised Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho decreased their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Colliers Securities downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $4.25 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

About Medical Properties Trust

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.