Amundi Increases Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,773,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 589,255 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Welltower were worth $477,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Welltower by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $147.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $138.99 and its 200 day moving average is $132.75. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.42.

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.