Vestcor Inc Cuts Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Vestcor Inc lowered its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,889 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Welltower were worth $14,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of WELL stock opened at $147.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $94.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.46, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $158.55. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.35.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WELL. Wedbush raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.19.

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.