Board of the Pension Protection Fund Sells 6,300 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund reduced its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 86.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,300 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund's holdings in Welltower were worth $153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.9% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 318,496 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Welltower by 9.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,231 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock opened at $152.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.23. The firm has a market cap of $99.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.94. The business's fifty day moving average is $150.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.59. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.92 and a 52 week high of $158.55.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is 154.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WELL. Wall Street Zen cut Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $163.75.

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.

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