Medical Properties Trust Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 79,390 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 33% compared to the average volume of 59,876 put options.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

NYSE MPW traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $4.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,112,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,401,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -5.01, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $2.92 and a twelve month high of $10.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.52.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPW. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 94.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 1,247.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 4,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 4,266 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 43.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPW. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.59.

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.