Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 41.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 313,745 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 225,018 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Welltower were worth $48,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Welltower by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 7,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 544,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,666,000 after purchasing an additional 128,090 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,936,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $244,114,000 after purchasing an additional 285,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Welltower by 23,204.3% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,900,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,183,000 after buying an additional 1,891,847 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.18.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of WELL traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $152.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,513,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,920,275. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.92. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.92 and a 1-year high of $158.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.41% and a net margin of 12.65%. Welltower's revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

About Welltower

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.