Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 40.0% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 4,962 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 35.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 3.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,989,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 97.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL opened at $88.31 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.90. The firm has a market cap of $52.20 billion, a PE ratio of 137.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.08. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.47 and a fifty-two week high of $94.63. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.79). Welltower had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 381.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.