Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 23,084 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Stevens Capital Management LP cut its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 63.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,064 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 23,084 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WELL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL opened at $146.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.71. The stock has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a PE ratio of 94.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.87 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. 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 (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. Analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

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.