8,411 Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Acquired by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its Welltower stake by 1.6%, buying 8,411 shares in the third quarter. It now holds 545,826 shares, valued at about $125.7 million.
• Welltower beat quarterly estimates, reporting earnings of $1.67 per share and $3.72 billion in revenue; revenue rose 38.4% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $259.81.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share, equivalent to $3.40 annually and a 1.4% yield.

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 545,826 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 8,411 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.07% of Welltower worth $125,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Joseph Group Capital Management raised its position in Welltower by 50.5% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 322 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Welltower in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Welltower by 6.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. RHL Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 146.7% during the 3rd quarter. RHL Group LLC now owns 111 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,961 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $244.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $238.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $266.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Welltower from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $259.81.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $247.22 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.47 and a 1-year high of $255.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 3.61%. Welltower's revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,261,800. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties.

The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.

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