Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Upgraded to Outperform at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Wedbush currently has $167.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $145.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WELL. StockNews.com lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $190.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.58.

Welltower Trading Down 0.9 %

WELL opened at $150.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Welltower has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $151.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.56.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 9,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP raised its holdings in Welltower by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 34,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 123,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,600,000 after purchasing an additional 43,285 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 184,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,202,000 after purchasing an additional 64,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.