Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,184 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $31,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WELL. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush raised 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. Mizuho upped their price target on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.46.

Welltower Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $153.39 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.57. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.87 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The stock has a market cap of $98.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.33, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. On average, research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 171.79%.

Welltower 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.