Baird Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 14.9%, leaving them with 10,136 shares valued at approximately $1.55 million.
• Welltower reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.28, which exceeded analyst expectations and marked a 39.6% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74 per share, yielding 1.8% annually.

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,136 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,778 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Welltower by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,289,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,261,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614,562 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Welltower by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,923,852 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,367,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622,384 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Welltower by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,467,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,297,263,000 after purchasing an additional 36,725 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 10.3% during the 4th 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 valued at $961,950,000 after purchasing an additional 712,279 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,956,594 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,065,820,000 after purchasing an additional 877,856 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $167.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $112.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.19. The business's 50 day moving average price is $162.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.84. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.34 and a fifty-two week high of $171.09.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 167.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Welltower Company 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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