Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Given New $145.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $144.00 to $145.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WELL. Bank of America increased their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Welltower from $144.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.42.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $148.93 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $138.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.41. Welltower has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.46, a PEG 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Research analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WELL. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Welltower by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 10,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 66,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,553,000 after buying an additional 12,599 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,385,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $177,359,000 after buying an additional 220,201 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 68,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,751,000 after buying an additional 13,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.