National Pension Service Increases Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,047,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,791 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Welltower were worth $94,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,866,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $529,024,000 after purchasing an additional 479,231 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Welltower by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WELL. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Welltower in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.07.

Welltower Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WELL traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $98.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,030,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,523,309. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a current ratio of 3.83. The firm has a market cap of $58.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.00. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.47 and a 12-month high of $98.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

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.