Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $221.00 to $242.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Welltower traded as high as $152.09 and last traded at $151.92, with a volume of 158719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.97.

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

Institutional Trading of Welltower

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. GTS Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 23,933 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 284.8% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 10,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 7,877 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 118,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,926,000 after buying an additional 18,670 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,632,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $961,950,000 after acquiring an additional 712,279 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $93.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.04, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $132.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.33.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. As a group, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 176.32%.

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.