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 Thursday. Stock traders bought 191,032 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 188% compared to the average daily volume of 66,320 call options.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Up 4.6 %

NYSE MPW traded up $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $4.99. 15,792,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,864,711. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.14 and a 200 day moving average of $4.37. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $2.92 and a twelve month high of $10.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is currently -63.83%.

Institutional Trading of Medical Properties Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPW. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after buying an additional 6,318 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 147.1% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 21,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 12,761 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 37,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 38,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 3,922 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 807,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,067,000 after purchasing an additional 246,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MPW shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Colliers Securities downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $10.00 to $4.25 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $2.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.