Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Trading Up 4.9% After Dividend Announcement

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) was up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $137.00 and last traded at $136.93. Approximately 1,921,157 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 2,667,747 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.57.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 330.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WELL. Wedbush raised their target price on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.38.

Welltower Trading Up 5.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $82.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 169.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 4.07 and a current ratio of 4.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.71.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Welltower’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Welltower by 37.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Welltower by 0.6% during the third quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 0.9% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 2.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Welltower by 14.1% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.