Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Price Target Raised to $114.00

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price target hoisted by Evercore ISI from $106.00 to $114.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

WELL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Welltower to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $112.38.

Welltower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WELL opened at $127.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $76.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.60, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.21. Welltower has a 12 month low of $78.38 and a 12 month high of $131.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $116.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.22. The company has a current ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 330.86%.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,857,000. Connors Investor Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,999,000 after purchasing an additional 11,238 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Welltower by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,118,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,072,000 after purchasing an additional 523,656 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 89,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,085,000 after buying an additional 18,807 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Welltower by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,019,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $91,955,000 after buying an additional 72,968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.