Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 2,305 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 146,650 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Welltower were worth $18,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 79,917 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,072,000 after purchasing an additional 16,715 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its position in Welltower by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 2,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,003,103 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $630,541,000 after buying an additional 254,556 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,518,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $821,498,000 after acquiring an additional 233,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Welltower by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Welltower stock traded up $3.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $146.73. 2,396,214 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,900,668. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.30 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $147.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $95.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.06, a P/E/G 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 the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 154.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WELL. Mizuho lifted their price target on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.83.

Welltower Profile

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.