Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock Price

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $158.00 to $175.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

WELL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.25.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $155.21 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $148.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.46. Welltower has a 52 week low of $100.13 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.49, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 154.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,674,826,000 after purchasing an additional 318,496 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth $3,943,892,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Welltower by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,289,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,261,792,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,562 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Welltower by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,357,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

About Welltower

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.