J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Takes $2.42 Million Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,418,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 89,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,231,000 after purchasing an additional 14,384 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 1,513.0% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 19,082 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,402,000 after buying an additional 17,899 shares during the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,439,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $181,437,000 after acquiring an additional 96,853 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 38,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 174,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,977,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of WELL opened at $143.84 on Tuesday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.76 and a 1 year high of $158.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The firm has a market cap of $93.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 3.15%. On average, equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WELL shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.46.

Welltower 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.