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

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

WELL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush increased their price target on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.38.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded up $1.14 on Wednesday, hitting $138.48. 3,679,246 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,684,041. The firm has a market cap of $82.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 170.96, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.90. Welltower has a 52 week low of $82.54 and a 52 week high of $139.80.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Welltower by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,731,842,000 after buying an additional 6,104,064 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $309,917,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,333,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257,213 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $254,977,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.