Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,078,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,525 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $766,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Welltower by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of WELL opened at $156.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $157.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 100.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.98 and its 200 day moving average is $131.87.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.96.

Welltower 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.