Beck Bode LLC Acquires Shares of 98,523 Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Beck Bode LLC has acquired a new stake in Welltower Inc. worth approximately $15.10 million, purchasing 98,523 shares, which now represent 2.8% of the firm's holdings.
• Welltower Inc. recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with $1.28 earnings per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.22.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, reflecting a robust annual dividend yield of 1.8%.

Beck Bode LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 98,523 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $15,095,000. Welltower accounts for about 2.8% of Beck Bode LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,614,562 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Welltower by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,357,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652,611 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Welltower by 41.6% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,622,384 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,467,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,297,263,000 after buying an additional 36,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 10.3% in 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 worth $961,950,000 after buying an additional 712,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $175.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Welltower Trading Up 0.6%

Welltower stock traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,689,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,390,739. The firm has a market cap of $112.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 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. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.93 and a 1 year high of $171.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $160.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.17.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The company'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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is currently 167.23%.

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.