Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $115.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Welltower traded as high as $105.77 and last traded at $105.75, with a volume of 1661929 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Welltower in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.2% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in Welltower by 4.8% in the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Welltower by 2.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in Welltower by 4.5% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 1.9 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.14. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a PE ratio of 130.35, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 301.23%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.