718,596 Shares in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 718,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $90,565,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Welltower by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $147.22 on Monday. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $94.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $138.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.86.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company 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 boosted their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.42.

About Welltower

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.