Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.08% of Welltower worth $60,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Welltower by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,392,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797,330 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 38.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,847,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,845 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $814,678,000 after purchasing an additional 62,942 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 638.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,920,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982,711 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Welltower by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,066,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $776,657,000 after buying an additional 46,332 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WELL. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Five equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.77.

Welltower Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WELL traded up $0.33 on Friday, reaching $128.77. The stock had a trading volume of 51,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,678,844. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.40 and a 12-month high of $140.75. The stock has a market cap of $80.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $132.88 and a 200 day moving average of $120.12.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 176.32%.

Welltower 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.