Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Acquired by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 0.4%, acquiring 36,725 shares to reach a total of approximately 8.47 million shares valued at $1.29 billion.
• Welltower recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.74 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 1.8%.
• The company's stock price has seen a significant rise, with a 39.6% revenue increase year-over-year, alongside surpassing analyst earnings expectations for its latest quarter.

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,467,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 36,725 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.29% of Welltower worth $1,297,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 7.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,938 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 231,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,190,000 after purchasing an additional 47,353 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 678,940 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $85,567,000 after purchasing an additional 14,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 135.8% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 73,626 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,279,000 after purchasing an additional 42,406 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock traded down $2.7420 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.1980. 2,796,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,936,356. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $159.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.16. The company has a market capitalization of $109.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.77, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.00 and a 12-month high of $171.09.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.Welltower's revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 167.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.10.

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.