Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Given New $289.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $269.00 to $289.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. UBS Group‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.95% from the stock’s previous close.

WELL has been the subject of several other research reports. Freedom Broker raised shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $260.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $266.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Welltower from $226.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Welltower from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.10.

Welltower Trading Down 0.2%

Welltower stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $247.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,663,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,111. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 3.16. Welltower has a 12-month low of $181.47 and a 12-month high of $255.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $234.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.25. The firm has a market cap of $181.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 12.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Welltower will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,261,800. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WELL. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 78,049,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,714,830,000 after purchasing an additional 4,045,458 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Welltower by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,138,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,564,246,000 after buying an additional 578,033 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Welltower by 6.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,750,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,300,291,000 after buying an additional 1,347,243 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,814,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,227,642,000 after buying an additional 207,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,345,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,649,844,000 after buying an additional 57,938 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower News Roundup

Here’s some of the latest news about WELL:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $289 from $269 and maintained a Buy rating. The new target is about 17% above the recently cited share price of $246.33. UBS price target article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lifted its target to $273 from $260 and kept an Overweight rating, while RBC raised its target to $266 from $260 and maintained Outperform. These revisions imply roughly 11% and 8% upside, respectively, from the price cited in the reports. JPMorgan price target article RBC price target article
• Negative Sentiment: A recent article described Welltower as facing an “execution test” after raising guidance, highlighting that the company must deliver on its improved outlook. The headline provides no specific shortfall, but execution remains a risk investors may monitor. Welltower execution article

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties. The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.