Atom Investors LP Increases Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Atom Investors LP increased its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Welltower were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 638.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,920,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,022,000 after buying an additional 5,982,711 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 38.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,847,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,845 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Welltower during the second quarter worth about $254,977,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Welltower by 24.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,112,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $220,223,000 after purchasing an additional 417,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Welltower by 11.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,914,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $373,126,000 after purchasing an additional 291,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $133.59 on Thursday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.40 and a 1 year high of $140.75. The company has a market cap of $83.19 billion, a PE ratio of 87.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.20. 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’s 50-day moving average is $132.54 and its 200 day moving average is $119.04.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 176.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wolfe Research raised Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.50.

About Welltower

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.