Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 50,247 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 341,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 50,247 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.05% of Welltower worth $42,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Welltower by 30.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 87,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,232,000 after buying an additional 20,445 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Welltower by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,550 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $838,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Welltower by 677.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 103,535 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,256,000 after acquiring an additional 90,211 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Welltower by 5.7% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 245,798 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,470,000 after purchasing an additional 13,341 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 11.9% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 36,423 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

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Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $140.34. 575,226 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,858,578. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $147.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.71. 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 one year low of $87.87 and a one year high of $158.55. The firm has a market cap of $91.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WELL. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.