Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 47,353 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Welltower were worth $29,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Welltower by 165.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America upped their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.46.

Welltower Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Welltower stock traded down $3.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $149.24. 622,476 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,870,037. The firm has a market cap of $97.23 billion, a PE ratio of 95.94, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's fifty day moving average is $148.10 and its 200 day moving average is $138.77. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.72 and a 1 year high of $158.55. 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 (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.79%.

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.