Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 548 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 39,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 548 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Welltower were worth $5,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 8,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its holdings in Welltower by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 19,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,405,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Welltower by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 335,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,324,000 after buying an additional 18,807 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,948,000 after buying an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Down 1.1 %

WELL opened at $148.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $133.83 and a 200 day moving average of $130.15. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.87 and a 12 month high of $152.81. The firm has a market cap of $95.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced 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 return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James lifted their price objective 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. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.19.

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.