Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) was upgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $168.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $146.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.86% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.35.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $151.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $135.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. 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 has a 52-week low of $87.87 and a 52-week high of $152.81.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,228,000 after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 29.2% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,477,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,649,000 after purchasing an additional 324,520 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Welltower by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 20,931 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.