Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Bank of America from $221.00 to $242.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 60.75% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James increased their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wedbush raised Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.19.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL traded up $0.57 on Tuesday, reaching $150.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,415,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,544,881. Welltower has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $152.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $132.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.33. The stock has a market cap of $93.74 billion, a PE ratio of 99.04, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Welltower by 182.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,672 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 478,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,225,000 after buying an additional 42,018 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 4,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Welltower by 5.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.