HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 3,024 Shares of Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 72,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,024 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust were worth $1,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 130.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Performance

HR stock opened at $16.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.24. Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated has a 52-week low of $13.37 and a 52-week high of $18.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 11.20% and a negative net margin of 51.60%. The business had revenue of $309.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $303.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.49%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HR. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

Healthcare Realty Trust, Inc provides real estate investment services. It owns, leases, manages, acquires, finances, develops, and redevelops income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States of America. The company was founded by David R.