Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Welltower by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 375,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,507,000 after buying an additional 8,956 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth $244,000. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth $278,000. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth $226,000. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WELL shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.25.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $151.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 4.23. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.13 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $149.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.89. The company has a market cap of $99.20 billion, a PE ratio of 87.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.94.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 3.41%. The business’s revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 154.02%.

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.