Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 2,887 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Welltower were worth $18,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,943,892,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 53.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,062,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939,229 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,388,151,000 after buying an additional 2,612,044 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 23,204.3% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891,847 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 17,343.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,738,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $266,287,000 after buying an additional 1,728,088 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought 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 owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $160.32. 1,475,015 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,897,583. The company has a market cap of $104.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.76. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.98 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 3.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 154.02%.

About Welltower

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.