Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 100.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,297 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth about $563,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Welltower by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 35,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,490,000 after buying an additional 5,927 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Welltower by 162.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,533 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WELL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wedbush increased their target price on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.68.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $137.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.57, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.23. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.38 and a 1 year high of $140.19.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS 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 last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 176.32%.

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.