Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 27.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,728,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,030,599 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.72% of Welltower worth $724,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Geller Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 stake in shares of Welltower by 1.2% in the first quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WELL. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WELL traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,982,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,398,783. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.18 and a 52-week high of $171.09. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $156.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.41. The firm has a market cap of $112.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Welltower's revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 151.41%.

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.