Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $915,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 638.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,920,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982,711 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 38.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,847,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,845 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Welltower by 10.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,392,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,330 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,565,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Welltower by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,773,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $477,314,000 after purchasing an additional 589,255 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $147.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $94.50 billion, a PE ratio of 94.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.35.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 171.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.19.

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.