Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 9,987 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 68.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 9,987 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Welltower were worth $3,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,044 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Welltower by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,674,826,000 after buying an additional 318,496 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Welltower in the 4th quarter worth about $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Welltower by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,989,106,000 after buying an additional 1,354,231 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.18.

Welltower Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE WELL opened at $152.77 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $150.95 and its 200 day moving average is $144.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.92 and a 12 month high of $158.55. The stock has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 87.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is currently 154.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.

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