Signaturefd LLC Raises Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,333,716,000 after buying an additional 3,257,213 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Welltower by 26.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,104,064 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Welltower by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,678,000 after acquiring an additional 62,942 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,433,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $414,229,000 after purchasing an additional 489,533 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.38.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $131.77 on Thursday. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.80 and a 52 week high of $132.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 162.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.40.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 330.86%.

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.