New York State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 456,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Welltower were worth $57,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $150.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.56. The company has a market cap of $93.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.70, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.87 and a 12 month high of $151.96.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush raised Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their target price on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.58.

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.