Korea Investment CORP Raises Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. by 43.3% in Q1, owning 687,680 shares valued at $105,359,000.
• Welltower announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.74 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%.
• Analysts predict continued growth for Welltower, with target price increases from major firms, now averaging around $169.82.

Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 43.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 687,680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 207,735 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.11% of Welltower worth $105,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth $762,204,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Welltower by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,062,495,000 after buying an additional 2,939,229 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 17,343.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,738,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $266,287,000 after buying an additional 1,728,088 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Welltower by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $194,272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $162.90 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $157.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.62. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.18 and a 12-month high of $171.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 4.19, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business 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 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 payout ratio is 167.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on WELL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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 cut 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 given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.82.

Insider Activity

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. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Company 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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