Utah Retirement Systems Boosts Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,203 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems' holdings in Welltower were worth $12,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WELL. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 355.0% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 138,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,409,000 after buying an additional 107,776 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 972,353 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $122,546,000 after purchasing an additional 41,963 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 538.4% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 70,119 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,837,000 after purchasing an additional 59,136 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 53.5% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,939,229 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Welltower by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 84,220 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,614,000 after buying an additional 4,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Trading Up 0.1 %

WELL stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $150.48. 2,367,811 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,878,669. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $148.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.14. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.86 and a 1 year high of $158.55.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $157.46.

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.