Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,086 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $4,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WELL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 25.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,925,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,058,848,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596,718 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,757,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,615,662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,673 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Welltower by 22.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,084 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Welltower by 1,412.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 594,677 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,062,000 after acquiring an additional 555,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 62.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,367,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,020,000 after acquiring an additional 526,386 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of Welltower stock traded up $0.77 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.70. 2,421,365 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,549,832. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.03 and its 200 day moving average is $89.25. The stock has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a PE ratio of 145.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.47 and a 12 month high of $94.63.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.79). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 1.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 381.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WELL shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.