Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 511,144 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,944,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 511,144 shares during the quarter. Welltower makes up approximately 0.6% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $356,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Welltower by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 7,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 25,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,062,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Welltower by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WELL traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,857,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,134,148. The company has a market capitalization of $55.76 billion, a PE ratio of 147.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $72.47 and a one year high of $94.99.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.79). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 1.47%. Welltower’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 381.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Welltower in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 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.