Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Acquired by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 146.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,272 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 6,104 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Welltower by 3.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 16,946 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,817,000 after buying an additional 7,872 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $215,659,000 after buying an additional 380,888 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 20.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its position in Welltower by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,936,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $244,114,000 after acquiring an additional 285,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Up 0.6 %

Welltower stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $154.10. 3,198,022 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,810,286. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a market cap of $98.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $146.67 and a 200-day moving average of $135.96.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WELL shares. Wedbush raised Welltower from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.46.

About Welltower

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.