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 boosted its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Welltower were worth $18,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 148.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $98,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 193.6% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 6,925 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $698,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WELL shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.18.

Welltower Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $0.56 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $161.65. 997,670 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,891,150. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.86, a PEG ratio of 1.86 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.24 and a 12-month high of $162.47. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $152.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.76.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Welltower's payout ratio is 154.02%.

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.