Natixis Increases Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Natixis grew its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 110.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 219,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 115,272 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Welltower were worth $27,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WELL shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL traded down $3.43 during trading on Monday, reaching $143.84. 2,241,788 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,871,357. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.76 and a 12-month high of $158.55. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $93.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.21, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $148.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.77.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.