Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Purchased by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 88.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Welltower comprises approximately 0.5% of MQS Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Welltower by 26.4% in the first 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 buying an additional 6,104,064 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at about $309,917,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,257,213 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth about $254,977,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 19.0% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WELL. Wolfe Research raised Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.68.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $135.96 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.38 and a 1 year high of $140.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.66 billion, a PE ratio of 89.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its 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 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.32%.

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.