Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Bought by Boothbay Fund Management LLC

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 3,783%, owning 110,356 shares valued at approximately $16.9 million.
• Welltower recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74 per share, yielding 1.8% annually.
• A number of analysts have upgraded their ratings and price targets for Welltower, with Wells Fargo raising their target from $175 to $185.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 3,783.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,356 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 107,514 shares during the quarter. Welltower comprises approximately 0.5% of Boothbay Fund Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $16,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,622,384 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Welltower by 0.4% in the first 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 worth $961,950,000 after purchasing an additional 712,279 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 worth $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.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock traded up $1.77 on Monday, hitting $169.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,669,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,897,964. The company has a market capitalization of $113.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.84. 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 $122.34 and a 1 year high of $171.09.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 167.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $175.00.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.