Barclays PLC Buys 380,888 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 29.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 380,888 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.27% of Welltower worth $215,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Welltower during the third quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Welltower during the third quarter worth about $64,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL traded down $1.56 on Friday, reaching $124.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,116,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,393,751. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.40 and a 52-week high of $140.75. The company has a market cap of $77.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.74.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. 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 2.15%. Welltower's payout ratio is 176.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WELL. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.63.

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.