Neuberger Berman Group LLC Sells 64,773 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 548,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 64,773 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $69,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 2.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $141.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.71. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. The stock has a market cap of $91.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

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.