Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $6,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WELL. Scotiabank raised their target price on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Welltower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.46.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $141.61 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.71. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $87.87 and a one year high of $158.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. On average, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

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.