Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stake in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its ownership in Welltower Inc. by 41.6%, now owning 8,923,852 shares worth approximately $1.37 billion.
• Welltower's recent earnings report showed $1.28 EPS, surpassing expectations and representing a 39.6% year-over-year revenue growth with total revenue of $2.55 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.67 to $0.74, reflecting a 1.8% dividend yield despite a high payout ratio of 167.23%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 41.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,923,852 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,622,384 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.36% of Welltower worth $1,367,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,938 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Welltower by 25.7% during 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 buying an additional 47,353 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Welltower by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 38,323 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,830,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Welltower by 1,513.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 19,082 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,402,000 after buying an additional 17,899 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.10.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $166.7630 on Friday. 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's fifty day moving average price is $159.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.16. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.50 and a 1 year high of $171.09. The company has a market cap of $111.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.22, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. 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. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 167.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.