Banco Santander S.A. Decreases Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Banco Santander S.A. cut its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,383 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Welltower by 165.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.42.

Welltower Stock Down 1.2 %

WELL opened at $147.22 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $138.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.86. The company has a market cap of $94.41 billion, a PE ratio of 94.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.87 and a 1 year high of $158.55. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

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.