Aviva PLC Sells 241,437 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Aviva PLC cut its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,473 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 241,437 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.06% of Welltower worth $46,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Welltower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.46.

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Welltower Stock Up 0.1 %

WELL traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.95. The company had a trading volume of 783,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,854,723. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $147.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.81. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.87 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The company has a market capitalization of $92.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.88, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

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.