Swiss National Bank Sells 27,500 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,747,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 27,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Welltower were worth $220,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Welltower by 437.4% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 62,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,920,000 after acquiring an additional 51,148 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC bought a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth $206,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $145.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.44. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.87 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.19.

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.