Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) Stock Price Down 4.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) were down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $5.20 and last traded at $5.21. Approximately 5,376,507 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 17,486,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MPW. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Colliers Securities raised Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas lowered Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $6.00 to $4.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.22.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 5.8 %

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 stock has a market capitalization 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $5.13 and its 200 day moving average is $4.87.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released 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 company had revenue of $266.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $49,924.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $341,891.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,058,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $437,373,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,981 shares in the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $15,966,000. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,439,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 22.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,908,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 6,806,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,830 shares in the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.