Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc.

Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 343,038 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,323 shares during the period. Welltower makes up 4.0% of Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.06% of Welltower worth $43,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,674,826,000 after purchasing an additional 318,496 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,943,892,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,231 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,558,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,707,570,000 after purchasing an additional 644,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.46.

Welltower Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WELL traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $146.98. 1,530,970 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,871,768. The company has a market capitalization of $95.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.72 and a 52-week 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 50 day moving average price of $148.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.42.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued 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 1.82%. Welltower's payout ratio is 171.79%.

Welltower Company 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.