Utah Retirement Systems Boosts Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Utah Retirement Systems boosted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Welltower were worth $12,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 29.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $215,659,000 after buying an additional 380,888 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $337,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 46.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 6,639 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Welltower by 51.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 391,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,925,000 after buying an additional 12,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Trading Up 0.7 %

WELL opened at $152.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $148.10 and its 200-day moving average is $138.77. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.72 and a 52-week high of $158.55. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

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.