Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Increases Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,734 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,152 shares during the period. Welltower accounts for about 1.2% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $32,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 37.0% in the 3rd 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. Old North State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WELL shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.68.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL opened at $136.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $140.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $130.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.67. The firm has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.49, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 176.32%.

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.