Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,315 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,742 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Welltower were worth $5,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Welltower by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,842,000 after buying an additional 6,104,064 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the first quarter valued at approximately $309,917,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $254,977,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,905,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Welltower by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,112,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,223,000 after purchasing an additional 417,046 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.68.

Welltower Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $136.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.52. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.40 and a fifty-two week high of $140.19. The firm has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

Welltower Profile

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.