Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 42.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,223,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 914,286 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.20% of Welltower worth $154,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Welltower by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WELL shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $147.17 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.38 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.34, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.36.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Welltower Company 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.