Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $115.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Welltower traded as high as $105.77 and last traded at $105.75, with a volume of 1661929 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $104.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total transaction of $187,038.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WELL. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 338.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.14. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.