Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Purchased by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 191.0%, owning 521,962 shares valued at approximately $79.98 million.
• A recent analyst downgrade has changed Welltower's rating from a "hold" to a "sell," while several others upgraded their price targets, with the average target now at $169.82.
• Welltower plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share on August 21st, representing an increase from the previous dividend of $0.67.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 191.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 521,962 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 342,620 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.08% of Welltower worth $79,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 294.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,812 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,276 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 14.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,614,562 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 687,680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $105,359,000 after acquiring an additional 207,735 shares during the last quarter. Qtron Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 5,376 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 896.9% in the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,887,000 after acquiring an additional 40,443 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL traded down $2.7420 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.1980. 2,798,321 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,936,356. 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 company has a market capitalization of $109.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.77, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.00 and a 52-week high of $171.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.16.

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 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 company's revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is presently 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.