State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 457,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,707 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Welltower were worth $58,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 10.6% in the first quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,999,000 after acquiring an additional 11,238 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 147.9% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Welltower in the second quarter worth about $674,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the second quarter worth about $14,766,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $116.68.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $138.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,485,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,937. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.38 and a 12 month high of $140.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10. The company has a market cap of $86.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.32%.

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.