State of Michigan Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 165,309 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Welltower were worth $25,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 228,584 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,074 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.18.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $2.38 on Friday, hitting $155.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,419,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,906,255. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.37. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.36 and a 1 year high of $158.55. The company has a market capitalization of $101.43 billion, a PE ratio of 89.14, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.41% and a net margin of 12.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is 154.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.