Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 53.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,225 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Welltower were worth $2,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WELL opened at $151.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.14, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $135.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.87 and a 12 month high of $152.81.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wedbush raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.19.

Welltower Company 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.