Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Holdings in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 61,867 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,655,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 87.3% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 648,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,045,000 after buying an additional 302,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,058,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $437,373,000 after acquiring an additional 7,084,981 shares during the period. 71.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MPW shares. Colliers Securities upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. 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 cut Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.22.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of MPW stock opened at $5.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 2.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.28. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $2.92 and a one year high of $6.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.79.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.75). The firm had revenue of $266.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.43%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $239,310.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman purchased 8,087 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.01 per share, with a total value of $48,602.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 76,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $461,207.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

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.