Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases New Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Connors Investor Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 10.6% during the first quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,999,000 after purchasing an additional 11,238 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 849,898 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 147.9% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter valued at approximately $674,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Welltower during the second quarter worth $14,766,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Down 0.2 %

Welltower stock opened at $135.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.83. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.40 and a 1-year high of $140.19. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WELL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.68.

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.