Vestcor Inc Cuts Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 117,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,889 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Welltower were worth $14,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,977,845 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,982,711 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 46,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 buying 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

WELL stock opened at $147.36 on Thursday. 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 $94.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.46, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.87 and a 1 year high of $158.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $140.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.35.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.19.

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.