Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 320,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.05% of Welltower worth $40,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 87,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,232,000 after acquiring an additional 20,445 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Welltower by 11.9% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 36,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Welltower by 13.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 192,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,694,000 after purchasing an additional 23,585 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Welltower by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 235,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,118,000 after purchasing an additional 70,914 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Welltower by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,084,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $143.26 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $147.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.41. The firm has a market cap of $92.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 171.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WELL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.46.

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.