Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Acquired by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 147.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,158 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WELL. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.83.

Welltower Trading Up 2.3%

Welltower stock opened at $146.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.06, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.77 and a 1 year high of $158.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.41 and its 200-day moving average is $140.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 154.02%.

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.