Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 3,327 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $7,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Welltower by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WELL. Scotiabank increased their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.46.

Welltower Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $150.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.87 and a 52 week high of $158.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $143.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.30 billion, a PE ratio of 96.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 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.