DnB Asset Management AS Has $16.34 Million Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 129,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 24,591 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Welltower were worth $16,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WELL. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $153.39 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $87.87 and a one year high of $158.55. 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 firm has a market cap of $98.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $145.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.52.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.