Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $204.80.

WELL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Welltower from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $246.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a report on Friday, October 17th.

Welltower Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $187.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.55. The stock has a market cap of $128.39 billion, a PE ratio of 129.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 5.47, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Welltower has a 52-week low of $123.11 and a 52-week high of $209.05.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.04. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.71% and a net margin of 9.69%.The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.240-5.300 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 204.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WELL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 722,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,760,000 after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 103.4% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 896.9% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,887,000 after buying an additional 40,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 18.3% in the first quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 5,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.