Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $168.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior target price of $146.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WELL. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush raised Welltower from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.96.

Welltower Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $3.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $156.91. 3,437,352 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,721,436. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $136.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The stock has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. Welltower has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $157.16.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the third quarter worth approximately $222,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Welltower by 57.1% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 10,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in Welltower during the third quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 53.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.