Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Sets New 12-Month High at $94.81

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $94.81 and last traded at $94.59, with a volume of 56895 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. BNP Paribas began coverage on Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.57.

Welltower Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $55.92 billion, a PE ratio of 146.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $92.04 and its 200 day moving average is $89.32.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.79). Welltower had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 381.26%.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $2,453,039,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Welltower by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,748,369,000 after acquiring an additional 5,173,079 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 25.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,925,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,058,848,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596,718 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 22.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,132,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,085,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,150 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.