Wellington Management Group LLP Increases Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 14.0%, now owning about 3.26% of the company, after purchasing over 2.6 million shares.
• Welltower recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, an increase from $0.67, which reflects a current yield of 1.8%.
• Analyst ratings for Welltower show mixed sentiments, with a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $169.82 amidst varied ratings from multiple firms.

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,289,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,614,562 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 3.26% of Welltower worth $3,261,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp lifted its position in Welltower by 704.8% in the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $162.90 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $157.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.62. The stock has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.18 and a fifty-two week high of $171.09. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The firm's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

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.

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