Brokerages Set Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Price Target at $140.19

Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.19.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WELL. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $150.74 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.61. Welltower has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $152.81. The stock has a market cap of $96.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.63, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 171.79%.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geller Advisors LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 0.6% in the third 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 during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.