J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,392,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797,330 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Welltower by 38.1% in the third 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Welltower by 638.0% in 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 valued at $886,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982,711 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 0.8% in the third 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 period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,106,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $391,533,000 after purchasing an additional 192,303 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $149.71 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $133.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.74. The stock has a market cap of $96.01 billion, a PE ratio of 95.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $87.87 and a one year high of $152.81.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush raised Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.19.

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.