Simon Quick Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.63.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock opened at $132.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $85.40 and a one year high of $140.75. The company has a market cap of $82.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.95.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.32%.

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.