Czech National Bank Raises Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,672 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Welltower were worth $21,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geller Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Welltower by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Welltower by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WELL. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.83.

Welltower Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $154.36 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.13 and a 52-week high of $158.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.90 and a 200 day moving average of $141.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.94 billion, a PE ratio of 98.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. 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 announced its 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 company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.