Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Earnings Beat

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $143.84 and last traded at $143.17, with a volume of 2062086 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $142.59.

The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 176.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $190.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $3,943,892,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 638.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,920,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,022,000 after buying an additional 5,982,711 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,428,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,847,289,000 after buying an additional 3,977,845 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after buying an additional 2,612,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 23,204.3% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after buying an additional 1,891,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Up 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $91.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.38, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.27.

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.