Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stake Raised by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,101,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 120,175 shares during the period. Welltower accounts for 2.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.38% of Welltower worth $189,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Welltower in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Welltower by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.57.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $95.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,607,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,542,753. The firm has a market cap of $56.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.08. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.47 and a 1-year high of $95.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $92.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.79). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 1.47% and a net margin of 5.12%. Welltower’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 381.25%.

Welltower 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.