CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Raises Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,219,856 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 104,510 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.20% of Welltower worth $153,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Welltower by 3.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $60,228,000 after acquiring an additional 16,946 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 7,872 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 29.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $215,659,000 after acquiring an additional 380,888 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Welltower by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 544,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,666,000 after acquiring an additional 128,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL traded down $3.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $143.84. 2,232,604 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,871,321. The company has a market capitalization of $93.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.76 and a 12-month high of $158.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.64. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts predict 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 given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.46.

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.