Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) shares hit a new 52-week high 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. The stock had previously closed at $104.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total transaction of $187,038.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Welltower by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Welltower by 4.8% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Welltower by 2.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $62.99 billion, a PE ratio of 130.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

About Welltower

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.