Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stake Increased by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $1,104,830,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Welltower by 426.4% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,927,021 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $353,218,000 after buying an additional 3,991,041 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Welltower by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,925,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,058,848,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596,718 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,757,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,615,662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,084 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.57.

Welltower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WELL stock opened at $92.00 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.91 and a 1 year high of $94.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $91.38 and its 200-day moving average is $88.62. The stock has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 143.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.79). Welltower had a return on equity of 1.47% and a net margin of 5.12%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Welltower’s payout ratio is 381.26%.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.