WestEnd Advisors LLC Takes $22.64 Million Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

WestEnd Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 176,791 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $22,635,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Welltower by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,477,382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $231,487,000 after acquiring an additional 30,688 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $383,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Welltower by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 14,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the first quarter valued at $404,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Up 0.8 %

WELL stock traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.45. 2,213,637 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,677,063. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.54 and a 52 week high of $139.80. The company has a market cap of $82.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 169.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $126.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.71. The company has a quick ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. The company's revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 330.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.38.

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.