Rhumbline Advisers Raises Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,247,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 63,378 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.20% of Welltower worth $157,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 638.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,847,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,845 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,392,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,330 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $215,659,000 after purchasing an additional 380,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,477,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,649,000 after purchasing an additional 324,520 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WELL opened at $150.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.42 billion, a PE ratio of 98.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $131.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.56. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $151.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 176.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.58.

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.