Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts are broadly bullish: Welltower has a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 17 of 21 analysts rating it Buy or Strong Buy and an average 12-month price target of $259.81.
• Quarterly results beat estimates: The REIT reported EPS of $1.67 versus $1.64 expected and revenue of $3.72 billion versus $3.64 billion expected; revenue grew 38.4% year over year.
• Insider and shareholder activity: Director Andrew Gundlach bought 5,000 shares for about $1.21 million, while institutional investors own 94.8% of the stock. Welltower also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share.

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $259.81.

A number of research analysts recently commented on WELL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Welltower from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Welltower from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, October 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $242.06 per share, with a total value of $1,210,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,261,800. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 13.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 238,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $54,056,000 after purchasing an additional 27,345 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Welltower by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,345,022 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,649,844,000 after purchasing an additional 57,938 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 916,367 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $207,986,000 after acquiring an additional 79,088 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 9.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,014,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $398,227,000 after acquiring an additional 181,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,138,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,564,246,000 after buying an additional 578,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $245.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $179.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day moving average is $233.83 and its 200 day moving average is $219.61. Welltower has a 12 month low of $181.47 and a 12 month high of $255.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.19%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties.

The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.

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