Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Shares Purchased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) by 44.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,489 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 130.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 68.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust during the third quarter worth $78,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Wedbush raised Healthcare Realty Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Healthcare Realty Trust stock opened at $15.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 0.85. Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated has a 1 year low of $13.86 and a 1 year high of $18.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.96.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $309.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $303.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.76%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.66%.

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.