Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock Gets Price Target Boost from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $273.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WELL. Citigroup boosted their price target on Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Welltower from $226.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $239.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Welltower from $238.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Welltower from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.14.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock traded up $0.73 on Tuesday, hitting $248.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 497,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,113,387. Welltower has a 52-week low of $181.47 and a 52-week high of $255.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.92. The company has a market capitalization of $181.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.03. Welltower had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Welltower will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $242.06 per share, with a total value of $1,210,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,261,800. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,425,089,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,599,351,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Welltower by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 78,049,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,714,830,000 after buying an additional 4,045,458 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $528,400,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Welltower by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,339,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,944,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008,543 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties.

The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.