Raymond James & Associates Boosts Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 478,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,018 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Welltower were worth $61,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 6.6% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 12,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. Hazelview Securities Inc. lifted its position in Welltower by 26.7% during the first quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. now owns 234,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,586,000 after acquiring an additional 49,400 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 190.9% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 4.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 117,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock opened at $130.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 160.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $124.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 4.07 and a current ratio of 4.07. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.80 and a 1 year high of $132.54.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 330.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on WELL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.38.

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.