LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Cuts Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 14.6%, bringing its holdings to 10,470 shares worth approximately $1.6 million.
• Welltower's stock recently opened at $167.93, and the company reported a 39.6% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with an EPS of $1.28, exceeding estimates.
• The firm announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.74 per share, up from $0.67, which represents a 1.8% yield based on an annualized payout.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,470 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,783 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Welltower by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,674,826,000 after purchasing an additional 318,496 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $2,357,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,611 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,062,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939,229 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,632,705 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $961,950,000 after purchasing an additional 712,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 14.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,956,594 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,065,820,000 after purchasing an additional 877,856 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Welltower Stock Down 0.1%

WELL stock opened at $167.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $112.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.88, a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.18 and a 12 month high of $171.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $157.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.89.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. Welltower's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 151.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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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