Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 29.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 380,888 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.27% of Welltower worth $215,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.63.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $124.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.40 and a 12 month high of $140.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.59. The stock has a market cap of $77.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.18, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 176.32%.

Welltower 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.