Bailard Inc. Purchases 173 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Bailard Inc. grew its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Welltower by 638.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,920,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,022,000 after buying an additional 5,982,711 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,847,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977,845 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 10.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,392,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,330 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 31,188.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 510,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,276,000 after purchasing an additional 508,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 29.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $215,659,000 after purchasing an additional 380,888 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WELL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush raised Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.96.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL opened at $156.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 100.58, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $136.98 and its 200-day moving average is $131.87. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $157.16.

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, 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio 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.