Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Raises Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,943,892,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Welltower by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,062,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939,229 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower by 2.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Welltower by 23,204.3% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 17,343.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,738,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $266,287,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,088 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.18.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock traded up $2.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $152.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,513,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,920,275. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.92 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $151.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Welltower's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is currently 154.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.