Healthcare Realty Trust Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HR)

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 36,061 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 8,267% compared to the average volume of 431 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Healthcare Realty Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 81,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 3.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 945,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,438,000 after acquiring an additional 30,349 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 77.1% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 514,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 223,856 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC bought a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,071,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,908,000 after purchasing an additional 390,367 shares during the period.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

HR traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $15.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 777,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,438,551. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of -20.70 and a beta of 0.78. Healthcare Realty Trust has a one year low of $12.77 and a one year high of $20.30.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $330.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.32 million. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 3.87% and a negative net margin of 20.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.12%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -167.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HR. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Healthcare Realty Trust from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Healthcare Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.30.

Healthcare Realty Trust Company Profile

Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates medical outpatient buildings primarily located around market-leading hospital campuses. The Company selectively grows its portfolio through property acquisition and development. As the first and largest REIT to specialize in medical outpatient buildings, Healthcare Realty's portfolio includes more than 700 properties totaling over 40 million square feet concentrated in 15 growth markets.