Bank of Nova Scotia Decreases Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 15.0%, owning 71,430 shares worth approximately $10.9 million after selling 12,624 shares in the first quarter.
• Welltower recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, with a favorable annualized yield of 1.7%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Welltower, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $169.82.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 15.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,430 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 12,624 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Welltower were worth $10,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $282,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Welltower by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Welltower by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after buying an additional 1,354,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Welltower by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 227,414 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,706,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WELL. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.82.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $169.75. 3,127,455 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,342,111. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $111.28 and a 12-month high of $170.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $113.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $155.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.62.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 151.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

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

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.