Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Position Reduced by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,239,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 459,753 shares during the quarter. Welltower comprises approximately 3.5% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned 1.00% of Welltower worth $786,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $147.22 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.86. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a PE ratio of 94.37, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid 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 (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.