IFM Investors Pty Ltd Decreases Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 6.5%, selling 16,722 shares and holding 241,042 shares worth approximately $36.93 million.
• Welltower reported strong earnings for the previous quarter, with an EPS of $1.28, surpassing expectations, and revenue increasing by 39.6% year-over-year.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, reflecting a payout ratio of 167.23%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd cut its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 241,042 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 16,722 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Welltower were worth $36,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 3.9% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 258,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,536,000 after buying an additional 9,678 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 55.6% during the first quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 3,013,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $461,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,293 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the first quarter worth about $1,697,000. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 6.8% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. now owns 27,893 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 61.4% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Trading Up 0.4%

WELL stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,981,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,096,364. The firm has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 95.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.34 and a 12-month high of $171.09. The company's 50-day moving average price is $163.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.43.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders 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 1.8%. This is a boost from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 167.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Scotiabank lifted 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 reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.00.

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.