Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) is Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,986,481 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 99,314 shares during the period. Welltower makes up about 4.5% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned approximately 1.44% of Welltower worth $720,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 313 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 117.8% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.57.

Welltower Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE WELL traded up $1.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $89.70. The company had a trading volume of 3,108,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,577,983. The company's fifty day moving average price is $91.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.91. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.47 and a 12 month high of $94.63. The stock has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.16, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.79). Welltower had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 1.47%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Welltower's payout ratio is 381.26%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc NYSE: WELL, a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.