Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Welltower in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas began 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. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.57.

Welltower Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WELL opened at $97.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.07. Welltower has a 1 year low of $72.47 and a 1 year high of $98.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Welltower by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,748,369,000 after acquiring an additional 5,173,079 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $2,453,039,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Welltower by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,132,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,085,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,150 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Welltower by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,012,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,173,337,000 after acquiring an additional 87,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Welltower by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.