Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $147.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $132.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.64% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WELL. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.63.

Welltower Stock Up 0.9 %

WELL opened at $126.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $78.48 billion, a PE ratio of 82.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10. Welltower has a 1 year low of $85.40 and a 1 year high of $140.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.50.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WELL. First Foundation Advisors bought a new position in Welltower during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 37.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.