Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 160,377 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $14,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 10.6% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,797,330 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 638.0% in 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 valued at $886,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982,711 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,066,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $776,657,000 after purchasing an additional 46,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,884,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $489,585,000 after purchasing an additional 117,170 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Bank of America boosted their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush raised Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.19.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $151.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $134.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.85. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.87 and a 12-month high of $152.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.28, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Welltower Company 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.