Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Acquired by Metis Global Partners LLC

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 14.3%, holding 107,646 shares valued at approximately $16.49 million.
• Welltower reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.20, exceeding estimates, with a net margin of 12.65% and revenues up 30.3% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.66% and a high payout ratio of 154.02%.

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,646 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 13,454 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $16,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 248,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,303,000 after purchasing an additional 32,184 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Welltower by 528.7% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Welltower by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,069,105 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $134,739,000 after buying an additional 6,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,713 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.82.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE WELL traded down $0.96 on Thursday, reaching $165.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,142,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,979,534. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.74 and a 12-month high of $168.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.50.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%. The company's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a boost from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 154.02%.

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.