Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $147.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $132.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.83% from the company’s current price.

WELL has been the subject of several other research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.63.

Welltower Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $125.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.52. The company has a market cap of $78.35 billion, a PE ratio of 82.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower has a fifty-two week low of $85.40 and a fifty-two week high of $140.75.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth about $411,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,228,000 after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 10.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,404,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $146,448,000 after purchasing an additional 129,270 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Welltower by 93.8% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 8,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $254,977,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.