Westover Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 2,277 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Welltower accounts for 1.0% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $3,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Welltower by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,757,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,615,662,000 after buying an additional 2,156,673 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Welltower by 25.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,925,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,058,848,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596,718 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,084 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,986,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,141,000 after purchasing an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Welltower by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,627,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $542,944,000 after buying an additional 48,051 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WELL shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Welltower in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.57.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $95.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,247,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,538,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.22. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.47 and a 1-year high of $98.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.65. The firm has a market cap of $56.65 billion, a PE ratio of 116.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 301.23%.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.