M.D. Sass LLC Invests $48.77 Million in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

M.D. Sass LLC acquired a new position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 386,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $48,767,000. Welltower accounts for approximately 3.7% of M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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 note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $150.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $143.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.97. 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 $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

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.