Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Purchased by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 212.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,630 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 55,511 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Welltower were worth $12,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Welltower by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after buying an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Welltower by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,674,826,000 after buying an additional 318,496 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Welltower by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after buying an additional 1,354,231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of WELL traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $151.70. The stock had a trading volume of 11,336,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,173. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.13 and a 1-year high of $158.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $149.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.89. The company has a market cap of $99.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.18, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 3.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Welltower's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is currently 154.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.25.

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.