Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 56,719 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,104,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,719 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $139,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Up 0.3 %

Welltower stock opened at $150.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.35 billion, a PE ratio of 96.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.34. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

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

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.