California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 909,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,074 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Welltower worth $73,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Andra AP fonden increased its position in shares of Welltower by 406.9% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 51,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,182,000 after purchasing an additional 41,500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Welltower by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,346,000 after acquiring an additional 77,262 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Welltower by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,004,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,244,000 after acquiring an additional 64,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Welltower by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 833,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,401,000 after acquiring an additional 284,239 shares during the last quarter. 91.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Welltower from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Welltower from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Welltower from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Welltower from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.38.

Welltower Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $86.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.13, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a current ratio of 3.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.39. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.62 and a 52-week high of $89.69.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.65). Welltower had a return on equity of 1.15% and a net margin of 3.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 508.33%.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust ("REIT") and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.