ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 92,136 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 42.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,602 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 92,136 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $15,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $147.70. 671,825 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,902,227. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.77 and a 1-year 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 market capitalization of $96.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.49, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average price is $147.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.51.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 154.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WELL shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.83.

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.