Drake & Associates LLC Sells 2,946 Shares of Welltower Inc. $WELL

Drake & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 15.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,946 shares during the period. Welltower comprises 0.6% of Drake & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $3,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter worth $4,903,554,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Welltower by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,616,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,090,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740,196 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Welltower by 241.5% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,241,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $190,801,000 after acquiring an additional 877,725 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 5.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,012,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,303,484,000 after acquiring an additional 723,887 shares during the period. Finally, HRT Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 327.7% during the second quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 712,929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $109,598,000 after acquiring an additional 546,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Key Welltower News

Here are the key news stories impacting Welltower this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised FY‑2026 FFO guidance to $6.09–$6.25 (well above consensus), citing stronger senior‑housing demand — a major catalyst for investor optimism. Welltower outlines 2026 FFO per share guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results showed FFO of $1.45 (beat) and revenue of $3.18B (beat); same‑store NOI growth of 15% and 20.4% SSNOI growth in the Seniors Housing Operating portfolio point to improving operations and margin expansion. Welltower Reports Fourth Quarter 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management disclosed heavy capital deployment: roughly $5.7B in new acquisitions and ~$13.9B of pro rata investments closed in Q4, while also executing $7.5B of dispositions — signaling active portfolio reshaping and growth. Welltower Surges Amid Strong Healthcare REIT Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Board announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74/share (record Feb 25, payable Mar 10), which supports income investor interest. (Company release)
• Neutral Sentiment: Welltower posted a formal business update and released the full Q4 earnings call/slides — useful for digging into guidance assumptions, SHOP strategy, and capital plan. Welltower Issues Business Update
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings‑call transcripts are available for deeper read on execution, leasing/occupancy trends and SHOP outlook. Welltower Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Management is increasing exposure to SHOP but the CEO warned execution “is harder than it looks,” highlighting operational risk as WELL scales operating assets. Welltower Increases Exposure to SHOP, CEO Warns
• Negative Sentiment: Welltower plans to divest ~$1.3B of Integra‑related nursing‑home assets (about $800M sold in 4Q), a near‑term shrinkage of that exposure that could reflect portfolio repricing or operational reprioritization. Welltower to Divest Integra‑Related Nursing Home Assets
• Negative Sentiment: Media reported an investigation into a UK care‑home deal tied to a US buyer (coverage of a £6B takeover), which could pose regulatory or reputational risk for transactions in that market. Investigation into UK care‑home deal

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial set a $246.00 target price on Welltower in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $204.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.80.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $208.03 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $189.28 and its 200 day moving average is $180.96. The company has a quick ratio of 5.47, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $142.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.29 and a twelve month high of $212.62.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.56% and a net margin of 8.64%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.090-6.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 211.43%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.