Swiss National Bank Buys 23,400 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,622,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Welltower worth $146,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 479.6% during the third quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 117.8% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $95.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.69. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.47 and a twelve month high of $98.19.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.57.

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.