Achmea Investment Management B.V. Takes Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 15,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,959,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Up 1.3 %

WELL stock opened at $147.85 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.87 and a 52-week high of $158.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.19.

Welltower 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.