Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 465,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,759 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.07% of Welltower worth $82,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,778,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,993,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991,896 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 4.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,616,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,090,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740,196 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter worth approximately $4,903,554,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,012,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,303,484,000 after purchasing an additional 723,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,214,232,000 after purchasing an additional 149,724 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Down 0.5%

WELL stock opened at $207.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $193.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.40. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.29 and a 52 week high of $216.43. The company has a market cap of $144.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.85.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 2.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.090-6.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $231.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Welltower from $204.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.79.

Welltower Profile

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.