Welltower Inc. $WELL Stock Holdings Increased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 241,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,287 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Welltower were worth $37,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter worth $212,000. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 34.3% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew its stake in Welltower by 704.8% in the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Welltower by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, December 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital set a $196.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $203.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.87.

Welltower Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE:WELL opened at $195.60 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.90 and its 200-day moving average is $170.08. The company has a quick ratio of 5.47, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.11 and a 12 month high of $209.05. The firm has a market cap of $134.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.84.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 2.71%. Welltower’s revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.240-5.300 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 11th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 204.14%.

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.