USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 12,269 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,703 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 12,269 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Welltower were worth $14,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,943,892,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Welltower by 53.5% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,939,229 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $12,388,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,044 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Welltower by 23,204.3% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.83.

Welltower Trading Up 1.6%

WELL stock traded up $2.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $149.29. The company had a trading volume of 2,183,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,913,854. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.77. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.95 and a 12 month high of $158.55. 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 stock has a market cap of $97.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.70, a PEG 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 154.02%.

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.