Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Price Target Raised to $266.00

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $260.00 to $266.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $266.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $244.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $226.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Freedom Broker raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.10.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $244.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.87. Welltower has a twelve month low of $181.47 and a twelve month high of $255.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 12.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 6.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,261,800. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 23.8% in the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the third quarter worth $201,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 21,041 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,845,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 27,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,289,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSI Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. GSI Capital Advisors LLC now owns 152,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,104,000 after buying an additional 61,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties. The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.