Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WELL. Evercore ISI raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.46.

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Welltower Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:WELL traded up $3.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $153.39. 2,852,597 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,802,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower has a one year low of $87.87 and a one year high of $158.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,612,044 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Welltower by 10.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,392,349,000 after buying an additional 1,797,330 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

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.