Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stock Position Raised by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 85.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,824 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 30,339 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $8,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $3,943,892,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 53.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,062,495,000 after buying an additional 2,939,229 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,388,151,000 after buying an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 23,204.3% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,183,000 after buying an additional 1,891,847 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded up $1.73 on Friday, hitting $148.62. 2,412,621 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,899,849. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.77 and a 1-year high of $158.55. The company has a market capitalization of $97.19 billion, a PE ratio of 95.27, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $147.41 and its 200 day moving average is $140.13. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 154.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WELL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.83.

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.