Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $109.98 Million Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 565.7%, acquiring an additional 610,063 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 717,913 shares valued at approximately $110 million.
• Welltower's recent quarterly dividend was raised from $0.67 to $0.74, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 1.7% for stockholders.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets for Welltower, with Wells Fargo raising it from $175 to $185, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the company's performance.

Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 565.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 717,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 610,063 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Welltower worth $109,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 258,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,536,000 after acquiring an additional 9,678 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 3,013,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $461,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,293 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,697,000. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. now owns 27,893 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.00.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $169.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,981,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,096,364. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.43. The firm has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $122.34 and a one year high of $171.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 167.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.