DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP Cuts Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP sold 10,933 shares of Welltower Inc. in Q1, reducing its holdings by 31.4%, leaving it with a total of 23,929 shares valued at approximately $3.67 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Balyasny Asset Management and Brighton Jones LLC, also increased their stakes in Welltower, indicating strong institutional interest with 94.80% of the company's stock held by such investors.
• Welltower announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.67 to $0.74 per share, reflecting a commitment to enhance shareholder returns amidst a robust financial performance.

DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP lowered its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 31.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,929 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 10,933 shares during the quarter. Welltower accounts for 1.2% of DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP's holdings in Welltower were worth $3,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its position in Welltower by 3,783.0% during the first quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 110,356 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,908,000 after buying an additional 107,514 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth about $426,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 10.8% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,263,217 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $193,537,000 after buying an additional 122,820 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 4.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 256,975 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,371,000 after purchasing an additional 11,121 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 8.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,857,000 after purchasing an additional 4,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WELL. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE WELL traded up $1.77 on Monday, hitting $169.59. 2,669,392 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,898,086. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.34 and a fifty-two week high of $171.09. The company has a market cap of $113.43 billion, a PE ratio of 95.81, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $162.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.84.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS 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 company 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 posted $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is 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.