Avanza Fonder AB Takes Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 66,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,330,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 18.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 9,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Welltower by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 506,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,761,000 after buying an additional 23,704 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 142.4% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 72,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.63.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $129.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.69, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $130.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.40 and a 52-week high of $140.75.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 176.32%.

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.