Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 66,096 Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 66,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,330,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Welltower by 165.5% in 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. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Welltower in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.63.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $129.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.22. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.08. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $140.75.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 176.32%.

About Welltower

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.