ING Groep NV Buys Shares of 27,191 Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 27,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,481,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the second quarter valued at $674,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter valued at $14,766,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Welltower by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,773 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,903,000 after purchasing an additional 5,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $411,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $136.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a PE ratio of 89.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.38. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.40 and a 52 week high of $140.19.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 176.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush increased their price target on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.68.

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.