Hardly for the first time in its recent history, on Tuesday, Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW) had a down session in the stock market. The share price of the specialty real estate investment trust (REIT) wilted by 0.5%, a decline that was essentially in line with the fall of the S&P 500 index on the day. Lingering bearish sentiment combined with an analyst's target price cut to sap investors' enthusiasm for the stock.

Already under siege from determined short-sellers, Medical Properties Trust probably didn't need a prognosticator's price target trim, modest as it was. That's what it got, however, from KeyBanc's Austin Wurschmidt. Early Tuesday morning, he shaved $1 off his price target to land at a new figure of $15 per share. But he maintained his overweight (read: buy) recommendation on the shares.

It wasn't immediately clear why Wurschmidt made the change. It did, however, track with several other analysts' modifications in recent weeks.

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Source Fool.com