Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Raises Stock Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management increased its holdings in Welltower Inc. by 6.1%, acquiring an additional 13,441 shares, raising their stake to 232,031 shares valued at approximately $35.67 million.
• Welltower recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74, increasing from the previous $0.67, representing an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 167.23%.
• Analysts have upgraded their price targets for Welltower, with Scotiabank raising it from $172.00 to $181.00, while Wells Fargo lifted their target from $175.00 to $185.00, reflecting strong investor sentiment.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 232,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 13,441 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Welltower were worth $35,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 258,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,536,000 after buying an additional 9,678 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 55.6% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 3,013,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $461,660,000 after buying an additional 1,076,293 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth $1,697,000. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Welltower by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. now owns 27,893 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 2,571 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Friday. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $177.55.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Welltower Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE WELL traded up $2.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $167.63. The stock had a trading volume of 3,535,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,165,233. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $122.34 and a one year high of $171.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.06.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Welltower's payout ratio is 167.23%.

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.