Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 121,286 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 94% compared to the typical volume of 62,458 put options.

Insider Activity at Medical Properties Trust

In other Medical Properties Trust news, CAO James Kevin Hanna sold 11,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.72, for a total value of $43,304.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 366,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,364,916.36. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPW. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 378.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 885,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,183,000 after purchasing an additional 700,783 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6,037 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 143,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 7,874 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 531,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 11,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPW has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial cut 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.92.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Up 16.9 %

Shares of MPW stock opened at $5.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Medical Properties Trust has a 1 year low of $3.51 and a 1 year high of $6.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.32, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.32.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.74%. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is currently -7.58%.

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.