Empower Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WELL. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.19.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $150.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $96.50 billion, a PE ratio of 96.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $133.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.87 and a 12 month high of $152.81.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued 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 is presently 171.79%.

Welltower Company Profile

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.