Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 117.8% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.81. The stock had a trading volume of 2,522,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,562,263. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.69. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.47 and a 1-year high of $98.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.28, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 301.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. 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 note on Monday, March 4th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.57.

Welltower Profile

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.