Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 68.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 11,872 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WELL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $3,943,892,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after buying an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Welltower by 23,204.3% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891,847 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $90,565,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,558,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,707,570,000 after acquiring an additional 644,494 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL opened at $145.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. The company has a market cap of $94.55 billion, a PE ratio of 93.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $148.16 and a 200-day moving average of $137.23. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.31 and a 52-week high of $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Welltower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.46.

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.