Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stake Boosted by Vert Asset Management LLC

Vert Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 180,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 299 shares during the quarter. Welltower comprises approximately 7.8% of Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $22,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 3,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 396,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,005,000 after buying an additional 174,771 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $512,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Welltower by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 58,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,369,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL opened at $138.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.22. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $140.75. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $130.12 and a 200 day moving average of $125.52.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on Welltower from $190.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

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.