National Pension Service Acquires 127,863 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. by 9.1% to a total of 1,531,823 shares, valued at approximately $234.69 million.
• Welltower announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.67 to $0.74 per share, reflecting an annualized amount of $2.96 and a yield of 1.8%.
• Welltower's recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.28, exceeding estimates by $0.06, with a 39.6% year-over-year increase in revenue.

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,531,823 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 127,863 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.23% of Welltower worth $234,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geller Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 1.2% in the first quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Welltower by 2.0% during the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Welltower by 1.8% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $162.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,490,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,962,388. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.18 and a 52-week high of $171.09. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $157.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19. The company has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower's payout ratio is 167.23%.

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.