Prudential PLC Has $13.11 Million Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 20,652 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $13,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,943,892,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in Welltower by 23,204.3% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891,847 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Welltower by 10.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,392,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $90,565,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Down 6.0 %

Welltower stock opened at $143.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.83, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.87 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.29.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend 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.