GDS Wealth Management Purchases 14,991 Shares of Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• GDS Wealth Management increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 55.7%, acquiring 14,991 additional shares, bringing their total holdings to 41,894 shares valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Welltower reported a 39.6% increase in revenue year-over-year to $2.55 billion for the last quarter, and earnings per share beat analysts' estimates at $1.28.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, reflecting a 1.8% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 167.23%.

GDS Wealth Management grew its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 55.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,894 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 14,991 shares during the quarter. GDS Wealth Management's holdings in Welltower were worth $6,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 704.8% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Franchise Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WELL. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.82.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Trading Up 0.6%

WELL stock opened at $163.4290 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $158.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.88. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.49 and a fifty-two week high of $171.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.93. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The business'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. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Welltower's payout ratio is 167.23%.

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.

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