New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 26.6% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 87,549 shares worth around $13.41 million.
• Welltower announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, reflecting an increase from its previous dividend of $0.67, with an annualized yield of 1.8%.
• The company reported earnings of $1.28 per share, surpassing estimates, with a significant 39.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $2.55 billion for the quarter.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 31,667 shares during the quarter. Welltower makes up approximately 0.6% of New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $13,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $282,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Welltower by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after buying an additional 1,354,231 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 227,414 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,706,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Scotiabank restated 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 assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $169.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL traded up $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $169.90. 2,591,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,376,813. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.37 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.17. The stock has a market cap of $113.63 billion, a PE ratio of 95.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 1.7%. This is a boost 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 currently 151.41%.

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.