Axa S.A. Acquires 40,837 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 506,976 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 40,837 shares during the period. AXA S.A. owned 0.08% of Welltower worth $63,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE:WELL traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $150.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,250,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,877,908. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.86 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.33. The company has a market capitalization of $98.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's payout ratio is 154.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $157.46.

Welltower Company 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.