Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 4,491 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 4,491 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $3,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 2.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,668 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WELL. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.63.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $129.47. 2,726,938 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,475,589. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.55. The company has a market cap of $80.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.40 and a 12-month high of $140.75.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Welltower's revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 176.32%.

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.