Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its target price raised by Scotiabank from $142.00 to $144.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on WELL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Welltower from $190.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Welltower Stock Down 1.5 %

WELL stock opened at $135.08 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.99. The company has a market cap of $84.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. Welltower has a fifty-two week low of $85.40 and a fifty-two week high of $140.75.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 37.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.