Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $101.32.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL opened at $111.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $66.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.50. Welltower has a 12-month low of $78.38 and a 12-month high of $112.16.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.72). The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,514,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,453,039,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 26.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,104,064 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Welltower by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,748,369,000 after acquiring an additional 5,173,079 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at $309,917,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.