Virtus Advisers LLC Has $120,000 Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC significantly reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 91.1%, selling 8,033 shares and leaving it with only 785 shares valued at $120,000.
• In contrast, other institutional investors have shown increased interest in Welltower, with SouthState Corp expanding its position by 704.8%, while several others have initiated new stakes valued between $26,000 and $32,000.
• Welltower recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.74, representing an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 1.8%, although the payout ratio is notably high at 167.23%.

Virtus Advisers LLC cut its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 91.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 785 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 8,033 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WELL. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 3.9% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 258,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,536,000 after purchasing an additional 9,678 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 6.8% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. now owns 27,893 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 61.4% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 55.6% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 1,076,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 8.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 131,503 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $20,147,000 after purchasing an additional 10,423 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE WELL traded down $0.35 on Thursday, hitting $167.40. 2,114,915 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,430,424. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.93 and a 52-week high of $171.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19. The company has a market capitalization of $111.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $160.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.99.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WELL shares. Wall Street Zen cut Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.00.

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.