New York Life Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 77.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,101 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $14,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 15.8% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.0% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 293,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,005,000 after acquiring an additional 5,646 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the third quarter valued at about $557,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 22.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 55,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,541,000 after acquiring an additional 10,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 6.8% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 66,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after acquiring an additional 4,201 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL opened at $94.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a PE ratio of 116.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.83. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.47 and a fifty-two week high of $98.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.65.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. Welltower’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 301.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WELL shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.57.

About Welltower

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.