AQR Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 245,854 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 101,314 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $30,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Welltower by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $215,659,000 after buying an additional 380,888 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Welltower in the third quarter worth $337,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 46.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Welltower by 51.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,326 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Welltower by 3.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 391,264 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $49,925,000 after purchasing an additional 12,265 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of WELL stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $150.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,114,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,881,599. The stock has a market cap of $98.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.53, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.91 and a 52-week high of $158.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.33.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 154.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WELL shares. 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.