Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 2,612,044 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Welltower worth $12,388,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 638.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,920,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,022,000 after acquiring an additional 5,982,711 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 38.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,847,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977,845 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Welltower by 10.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,392,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797,330 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $90,565,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,773,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $477,314,000 after purchasing an additional 589,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $146.84 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $143.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a PE ratio of 94.13, a P/E/G 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.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. As a group, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

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.