Independent Advisor Alliance Boosts Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Welltower by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 544,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,666,000 after acquiring an additional 128,090 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Argentarii LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $2,626,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $147.85 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $141.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.64. The company has a market cap of $94.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.19.

Welltower 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.