Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $115.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Welltower traded as high as $105.77 and last traded at $105.75, with a volume of 1661929 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.00.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 1.2% during the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 4.8% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Welltower by 2.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 4.5% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 1.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $63.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.83, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.14.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.