LGT Group Foundation Sells 17,793 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation reduced its holdings in Welltower Inc. by 21.6%, selling 17,793 shares during the first quarter.
• Despite LGT's sell-off, SouthState Corp increased its stake in Welltower by 704.8%, demonstrating growing interest from institutional investors.
• Welltower plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, an increase from its previous dividend of $0.67, with a scheduled payment date of August 21.

LGT Group Foundation decreased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 17,793 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Welltower were worth $9,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 704.8% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Franchise Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank restated 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 given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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 purchased 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $167.93 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $157.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.32 billion, a PE ratio of 94.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.18 and a 1-year high of $171.09. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The company's revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is 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 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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