Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $182.00 to $214.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Welltower traded as high as $192.81 and last traded at $191.6490, with a volume of 3879438 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $192.31.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Welltower from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Welltower from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Welltower from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.07.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,778,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,993,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991,896 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Welltower by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,516,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,285,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Welltower by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,616,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,090,212,000 after buying an additional 1,740,196 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth $4,903,554,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Welltower by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,289,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,261,792,000 after buying an additional 2,614,562 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.55. The stock has a market cap of $133.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.04. Welltower had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 2.71%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.240-5.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 11th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 204.14%.

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.