Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,590,000 shares, a decline of 22.2% from the September 30th total of 11,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.38.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL traded down $1.84 on Friday, hitting $130.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,837,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,433. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.95. The stock has a market cap of $79.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21. Welltower has a 52-week low of $80.80 and a 52-week high of $132.66. The company has a quick ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 260.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 3.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,257,213 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,731,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,104,064 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,678,000 after buying an additional 62,942 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 19.0% in 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 buying an additional 849,898 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Welltower by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,433,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $414,229,000 after buying an additional 489,533 shares in 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 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.