Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Increases Stock Position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 38.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 89,487 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned about 0.05% of Medical Properties Trust worth $1,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,680 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 21,260 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $91,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 5.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 80,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 4,231 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 89,058 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $283,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

Shares of MPW stock opened at $6.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.80. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.32. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.51 and a 1-year high of $6.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Medical Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is currently -8.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Kevin Hanna sold 11,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.72, for a total transaction of $43,304.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 366,913 shares in the company, valued at $1,364,916.36. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MPW. StockNews.com raised Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $5.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.64.

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.