Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,825 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 18,807 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.05% of Welltower worth $42,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 37.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Welltower by 165.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.19.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock traded down $1.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $148.69. The company had a trading volume of 3,988,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,660,023. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.35 billion, a PE ratio of 95.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $133.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $152.81.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

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.