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

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 118,883 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 120% compared to the average daily volume of 54,027 put options.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of MPW stock opened at $5.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.93. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.33, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.88. Medical Properties Trust has a 1-year low of $2.92 and a 1-year high of $6.55.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. Medical Properties Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.87 EPS 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 paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.41%.

Insider Activity at Medical Properties Trust

In related news, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.46, for a total value of $178,978.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 221,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,997.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman bought 8,087 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 76,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $461,207.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.46, for a total transaction of $178,978.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 221,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,997.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,335 shares of company stock worth $318,825 over the last three months. 1.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $437,373,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,981 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $15,966,000. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,439,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,274,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC raised its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 18.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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