Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 12.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the 1st 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 acquiring 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 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,104,064 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 0.8% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 62,942 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 19.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 849,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $414,229,000 after acquiring an additional 489,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Down 1.1 %

Welltower stock opened at $133.67 on Thursday. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.38 and a twelve month high of $139.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.38.

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.