WestEnd Advisors LLC Invests $22.64 Million in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

WestEnd Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 176,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $22,635,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Welltower by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,333,716,000 after buying an additional 3,257,213 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 26.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,731,842,000 after buying an additional 6,104,064 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,678,000 after buying an additional 62,942 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,433,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $414,229,000 after purchasing an additional 489,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.38.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.11. The company had a trading volume of 217,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,667,194. The company has a market capitalization of $82.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 169.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.71. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.54 and a 1 year high of $138.29.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced 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 net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 330.86%.

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.