Barclays PLC Raises Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 380,888 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $215,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter worth $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 37.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the third quarter worth $50,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the third quarter worth $59,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the third quarter worth $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE WELL opened at $124.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $131.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.59. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.40 and a 12 month high of $140.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.79 billion, a P/E 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 176.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.63.

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.