Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $102.04.

Welltower Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE WELL traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $112.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,827,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,629,856. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Welltower has a 12-month low of $78.38 and a 12-month high of $115.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.04.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total transaction of $187,038.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 338.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.