Bahl & Gaynor LLC Buys 214,997 Shares of Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor increased its Welltower stake by 211.6% in the third quarter, adding 214,997 shares to bring its holdings to 316,619 shares, valued at about $72.9 million.
• Welltower reported quarterly EPS of $1.67, beating the $1.64 consensus, while revenue rose 38.4% year over year to $3.72 billion.
• Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares, and analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $262.14.

Bahl & Gaynor LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 211.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 316,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 214,997 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $72,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. RHL Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 146.7% during the third quarter. RHL Group LLC now owns 111 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 164 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Welltower Stock Up 0.0%

Welltower stock opened at $247.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $181.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.11, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $234.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.25. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.47 and a 52 week high of $255.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 147.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $226.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Welltower from $260.00 to $258.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Freedom Broker upgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Welltower from $244.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Welltower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $262.14.

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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