Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $90.57 Million Investment in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 718,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $90,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.12% of Welltower as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $147.22 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $138.99 and a 200-day moving average of $132.86. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.87 and a 12-month high of $158.55. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $94.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WELL. Bank of America raised their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.42.

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.