DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Has $821.50 Million Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,518,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 233,519 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned 1.05% of Welltower worth $821,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 7,872 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 29.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $215,659,000 after purchasing an additional 380,888 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 544,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,666,000 after buying an additional 128,090 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its position in Welltower by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,936,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $244,114,000 after buying an additional 285,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WELL. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.83.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $149.38. 1,763,999 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,895,406. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.36 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $147.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.80. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a PE ratio of 95.76, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Welltower's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 154.02%.

About Welltower

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.