Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Makes New $1.45 Million Investment in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,509 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,388,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,943,892,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,231 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,558,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,707,570,000 after purchasing an additional 644,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Welltower by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,884,674 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $489,585,000 after purchasing an additional 117,170 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL stock traded up $1.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,951,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,866,048. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.43 billion, a PE ratio of 94.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $148.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.36. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.38 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid 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 payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WELL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.46.

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.