Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 3,327 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $7,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,999 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. M.D. Sass LLC bought a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $48,767,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,255,000. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $150.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $87.87 and a one year high of $158.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.46.

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.