Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $213.50 and last traded at $212.2470, with a volume of 65087 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $210.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Welltower from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $182.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.50.

Welltower Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $145.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.95, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $190.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.46% and a net margin of 8.64%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.090-6.25 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 211.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Welltower by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,421,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,154,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,088 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 47,431,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,805,411,000 after purchasing an additional 915,514 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 41,760,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,751,134,000 after purchasing an additional 506,374 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,903,554,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Welltower by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,403,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,787,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.