Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock Price Up 4.9% Following Dividend Announcement

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)’s stock price rose 4.9% during trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $137.00 and last traded at $136.93. Approximately 1,921,157 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 2,667,747 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.57.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 330.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.38.

Welltower Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $82.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 166.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.38.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WELL. First Foundation Advisors bought a new position in Welltower in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the second quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Welltower by 37.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.