State of Michigan Retirement System Acquires 2,900 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Welltower were worth $20,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $154.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $158.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $137.53 and its 200 day moving average is $132.14.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

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 given 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 1.74%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.35.

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.