Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $826,000 in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 168,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $826,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 880.2% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,951,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,536,000 after buying an additional 3,548,423 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 30.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,610,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,926,000 after buying an additional 1,989,853 shares during the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 49.6% during the third quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 5,065,844 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,609,000 after buying an additional 1,680,200 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 125.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,261,451 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,325,000 after buying an additional 1,257,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 115.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,623,611 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,849,000 after buying an additional 870,606 shares during the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

Shares of MPW stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.51. 9,016,409 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,703,427. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.34. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.74.

Medical Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Medical Properties Trust's payout ratio is -63.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $6.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Medical Properties Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

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.