Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 1,045,507 Shares of Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 65.2%, acquiring an additional 1,045,507 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $399.3 million.
• Welltower reported a 39.6% year-over-year increase in revenue, with quarterly earnings of $1.28 EPS, surpassing Wall Street estimates.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, equating to an annualized yield of 1.8%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 65.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,648,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 1,045,507 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.41% of Welltower worth $399,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 14.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,289,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,261,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614,562 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,357,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,611 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 41.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,923,852 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,367,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622,384 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,467,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,297,263,000 after purchasing an additional 36,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,632,705 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $961,950,000 after purchasing an additional 712,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $166.7630 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.00 and a 200 day moving average of $152.16. The stock has a market cap of $111.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.50 and a 12 month high of $171.09. The company has a current ratio of 4.19, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The company 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%. Welltower's revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.10.

Welltower Profile

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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