Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $143.72 Million Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,140,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,444 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.18% of Welltower worth $143,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 165.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock opened at $154.10 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.87 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $146.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.96. The stock has a market cap of $98.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. On average, equities analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

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.