CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $9.37 Million Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,821 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Welltower were worth $9,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connors Investor Services Inc. increased its position in Welltower by 10.6% during the first quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,999,000 after buying an additional 11,238 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Welltower by 88.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,118,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,072,000 after acquiring an additional 523,656 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 19.0% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,771,000 after acquiring an additional 849,898 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 147.9% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares during the period. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Welltower during the second quarter valued at about $674,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $131.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. The firm has a market cap of $78.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.40. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.80 and a fifty-two week high of $132.54.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 330.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WELL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.38.

Welltower Company Profile

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.