Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 12,265 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 391,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,265 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $49,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Foundation Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 37.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the third quarter worth $50,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WELL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.63.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $129.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.96. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.40 and a fifty-two week high of $140.75. The company has a market capitalization of $80.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.10.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 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.