B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Boosts Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,582 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Welltower were worth $3,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WELL. Royal Bank of Canada raised Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $156.46.

Remove Ads

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL stock traded down $9.17 on Friday, hitting $143.26. The company had a trading volume of 4,825,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,834,574. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.87 and a 12-month high of $158.55. The stock has a market cap of $92.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $147.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.35.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Welltower Company 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.