Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Acquired by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,101,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,175 shares during the quarter. Welltower accounts for 2.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $189,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 25.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,925,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,058,848,000 after buying an additional 2,596,718 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,757,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,615,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156,673 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 22.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,084 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1,412.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 594,677 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,062,000 after purchasing an additional 555,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Welltower by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,367,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,020,000 after purchasing an additional 526,386 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Welltower stock traded up $1.47 on Monday, hitting $95.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,607,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,542,753. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.47 and a twelve month high of $95.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $92.11 and a 200-day moving average of $89.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.08.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.79). Welltower had a return on equity of 1.47% and a net margin of 5.12%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 381.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.57.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.