Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,751 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Welltower were worth $4,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush upgraded shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $148.81 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $142.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.35. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.87 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The stock has a market cap of $95.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Welltower Profile

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.