Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Price Target Raised to $106.00 at Evercore ISI

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its target price upped by Evercore ISI from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

WELL has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Welltower from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $109.58.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $121.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $72.39 billion, a PE ratio of 149.47, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $109.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.57. Welltower has a twelve month low of $78.38 and a twelve month high of $121.48.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 330.86%.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,333,716,000 after buying an additional 3,257,213 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 26.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,104,064 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,453,039,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,012,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,173,337,000 after buying an additional 87,106 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $814,678,000 after buying an additional 62,942 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Welltower

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.