Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,398 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $8,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Franchise Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, ZynergyRetirementPlanningLLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were 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. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $168.18.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $157.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,484,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,900,245. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 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. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $151.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.02. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $105.59 and a fifty-two week high of $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 154.02%.

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.