LPL Financial LLC Has $31.30 Million Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 32,184 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $31,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Welltower by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WELL shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.46.

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Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.66. 1,166,500 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,002,982. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. The stock has a market cap of $97.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.