Woodline Partners LP Purchases Shares of 35,377 Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 35,377 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,459,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Geller Advisors LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.83.

Welltower Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $152.70. 747,724 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,901,565. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.95 and a 1 year high of $158.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $147.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. 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.