Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its stake in Welltower by 0.9% in Q4, selling 89,976 shares to hold 10,094,083 shares (about 1.47% of Welltower, valued at $1.873 billion), with Welltower representing roughly 1.0% of PFG’s portfolio and its 17th-largest holding.
• Several analysts have raised price targets (e.g., UBS $249, KeyCorp $240, Wells Fargo $228) and the stock carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $227.87.
• Welltower posted an earnings beat with $1.02 EPS vs. $0.68 expected and $3.35B revenue (up 38.3% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of $6.210–$6.350 EPS, and declared a $0.74 quarterly dividend (1.4% yield) despite a 146.5% payout ratio.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,094,083 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 89,976 shares during the period. Welltower comprises approximately 1.0% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.47% of Welltower worth $1,873,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Welltower by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,421,471 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,154,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,088 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Welltower by 4.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,516,255 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,285,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,934 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Welltower by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 41,253,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,348,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,665 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Welltower by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,378,590 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,452,102,000 after purchasing an additional 367,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Welltower by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,106,068 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,622,155,000 after purchasing an additional 282,881 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Welltower from $218.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Welltower from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Welltower from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Welltower from $240.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.87.

Welltower Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WELL stock opened at $217.15 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $205.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.31. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.65 and a 1 year high of $219.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.50, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.34. Welltower had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 3.45%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.210-6.350 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 146.53%.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc NYSE: WELL is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower's assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company's property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.

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