Czech National Bank Boosts Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,933 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 11,672 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Welltower were worth $21,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 7,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Welltower by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 544,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,666,000 after purchasing an additional 128,090 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $367,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased 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 worth $2,183,000 after buying an additional 1,891,847 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.25.

Welltower Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WELL traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.30. 2,563,406 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,911,694. The stock's 50-day moving average is $148.06 and its 200-day moving average is $141.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.13 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. The company has a market cap of $99.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Welltower's revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.76%. 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.