J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Makes New $2.42 Million Investment in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 19,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,418,000.

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

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $143.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.72 billion, a PE ratio of 92.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.77. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.76 and a twelve month high of $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WELL. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.46.

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.