Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Purchased by Deutsche Bank AG

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 2.4%, acquiring an additional 118,185 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 5.12 million shares valued at $784.63 million.
• Welltower Inc. reported a 39.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, achieving $2.55 billion for the last quarter and beating analysts' expectations with an EPS of $1.28.
• The company announced a dividend increase from $0.67 to $0.74 per share, with a payout date set for August 21st, reflecting a positive change in investor returns.

Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,121,288 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 118,185 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.78% of Welltower worth $784,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WELL. Geller Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Welltower by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Welltower by 2.0% in the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 1.8% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WELL. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.82.

Welltower Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:WELL traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $168.27. 1,982,343 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,398,783. The firm has a market cap of $112.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.07, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.41. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.18 and a 52-week high of $171.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business 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. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 151.41%.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.