Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 291,839 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 11.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,914,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 291,839 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $373,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Foundation Advisors bought a new position in Welltower during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE WELL opened at $137.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $129.28 and a 200-day moving average of $114.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.38 and a 1-year high of $140.19. The firm has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 90.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 176.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.68.

Welltower Company 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.