Healthcare Trust (NYSE:HTA) declared a dividend payable on July 9, 2021 to its shareholders as of June 15, 2021. It was also announced that shareholders of Healthcare Trust's stock as of July 1, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. The ex-dividend date for Healthcare Trust is set for June 30, 2021. The company's current dividend payout sits at $0.32, equating to a dividend yield of 4.34% at current price levels.

Ex-dividend dates are when company shares stop trading with their current dividend payouts in preparation for those companies to announce new ones. Usually, a company's ex-dividend date falls one business day before its record date. Investors should keep this in mind when purchasing stocks because buying them on or after ex-dividend dates does not qualify them to receive the declared payment. Newly declared dividends go to shareholders who have owned that stock before the ex-dividend date. Typically, companies will announce and implement new dividend yields on a quarterly basis.

Over the past year, Healthcare Trust has seen its dividend payouts climb upward and its yields trend downward. Last year on July 1, 2020 the company's payout sat at $0.32, which has since increased by $0.01. Healthcare Trust's dividend yield last year was 5.33%, which has since decreased by 0.99%.
Companies use dividend yields in different strategic ways. Some companies may opt to not give yields altogether to reinvest in themselves. Other companies may opt to increase or decrease their yield amounts to control how their shares circulate throughout the stock market.