Appleton Partners Inc. MA Grows Stock Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 9.6% during Q2, owning 89,430 shares currently valued at approximately $13.75 million.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for Welltower, with Scotiabank raising its target from $172 to $181, while KeyCorp set a target of $200.
• Welltower announced a dividend increase to $0.74 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, up from $0.67 previously.

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,430 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the period. Welltower makes up approximately 1.0% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Welltower were worth $13,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WELL. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in Welltower by 704.8% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Welltower in a report on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Welltower from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.62.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL stock opened at $175.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.28 billion, a PE ratio of 99.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.92. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.34 and a 12-month high of $180.40. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $168.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.76.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a boost from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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