Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Receives $125.86 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $127.63.

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $125.82 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $132.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10. Welltower has a 52-week low of $85.40 and a 52-week high of $140.75.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,797,330 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,847,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,845 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $814,678,000 after purchasing an additional 62,942 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 638.0% during the third 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 worth $886,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982,711 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,066,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $776,657,000 after purchasing an additional 46,332 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.