Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Short Interest Update

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,640,000 shares, a decrease of 19.0% from the January 31st total of 13,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert E. Hull sold 10,000 shares of Healthcare Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $174,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 171,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,996,072. This trade represents a 5.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust by 130.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Performance

Healthcare Realty Trust stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.72. The company had a trading volume of 946,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,476,431. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.41 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.36. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $12.77 and a 12-month high of $18.90.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 11.20% and a negative net margin of 51.60%. The business had revenue of $309.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.81 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Healthcare Realty Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.20.

Healthcare Realty Trust Company Profile

Healthcare Realty Trust, Inc provides real estate investment services. It owns, leases, manages, acquires, finances, develops, and redevelops income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States of America. The company was founded by David R.