2,909 Shares in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Purchased by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,228,000 after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Welltower by 29.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $215,659,000 after purchasing an additional 380,888 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,477,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $185,649,000 after purchasing an additional 324,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 20,931 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,638,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $150.50 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $135.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.99. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.87 and a 1 year high of $152.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick 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, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.19.

About Welltower

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.