Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,383 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,797,330 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 38.1% during the third 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Welltower by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,884,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $489,585,000 after purchasing an additional 117,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL opened at $147.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $138.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.86. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.87 and a 1 year high of $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WELL. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wedbush raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.42.

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.