Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 333 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 333 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Welltower by 3.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 471.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter worth about $211,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WELL. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.77.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $129.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.40 billion, a PE ratio of 84.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.40 and a 52 week high of $140.75. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.32.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

About Welltower

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.