Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 45.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 19,212 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Welltower were worth $7,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 16,946 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 holdings 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 worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Welltower by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,477,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,649,000 after purchasing an additional 324,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $367,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL opened at $156.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $136.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.87. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $157.16. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.58, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WELL. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.96.

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.