Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to "Sell"

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

WELL has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.38.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $124.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,857,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,728,700. Welltower has a fifty-two week low of $80.80 and a fifty-two week high of $131.31. The firm has a market cap of $74.33 billion, a PE ratio of 153.47, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $121.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Welltower by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,333,716,000 after buying an additional 3,257,213 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 26.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,731,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,104,064 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Welltower by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $814,678,000 after acquiring an additional 62,942 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 19.0% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $507,771,000 after acquiring an additional 849,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Welltower by 12.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,433,816 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $414,229,000 after acquiring an additional 489,533 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc NYSE: WELL, a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.

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