1,641 Shares in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Bought by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.19.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $147.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.35. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.87 and a 52-week high of $158.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.46, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

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.