JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 2,392,071 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reduced its holdings in Welltower Inc. by 23.6%, selling 2,392,071 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 7.75 million shares valued at over $1.18 billion.
• In addition to JPMorgan's sale, several institutional investors have modified their positions in Welltower, with Townsquare Capital LLC increasing its stake by 34.3%.
• Welltower has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, providing shareholders with an annualized yield of 1.8%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,748,667 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,392,071 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.18% of Welltower worth $1,187,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 6.3% during the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 10,225 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 34.3% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,917 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Welltower during the first quarter worth $236,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,600 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,202,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,128 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WELL. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $169.82.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $168.27 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.54. The company has a market cap of $112.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.07, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.19. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.18 and a fifty-two week high of $171.09.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 151.41%.

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.

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