Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $7.07 Million Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,066 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 18,541 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $7,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 5.8% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 8,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,497,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Welltower by 3.6% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 193,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,805,000 after buying an additional 6,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 74.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,404,000 after buying an additional 31,322 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WELL. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush raised shares of Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.46.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $146.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.71. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $158.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a PE ratio of 94.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. As a group, analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is 171.79%.

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.