295,660 Shares in Welltower Inc. $WELL Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• The Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 295,660 shares of Welltower Inc. valued at approximately $45.45 million in the second quarter, indicating a significant investment in the real estate investment trust.
• Welltower's stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with a target price ranging from $182 to $200 per share.
• Welltower recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, marking a 1.7% yield for investors.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 295,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $45,452,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in Welltower by 704.8% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Welltower in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.36.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $175.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.19, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $117.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.92. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.11 and a 1-year high of $180.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.80 and a 200-day moving average of $158.07.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 167.23%.

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.

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