Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.19.

Several equities analysts recently commented on WELL shares. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $149.71 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $133.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.74. 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 has a 12 month low of $87.87 and a 12 month high of $152.81. The company has a market capitalization of $96.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 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 analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Planning Group LLC NY acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $312,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,416,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,099,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,556,000 after acquiring an additional 4,610 shares during the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 23,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of Welltower by 284.8% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 10,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 7,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.