WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 67.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,892 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 21,667 shares during the quarter. Welltower comprises about 2.2% of WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $8,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Welltower by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $698,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Welltower by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 248,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,303,000 after acquiring an additional 32,184 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. increased its position in Welltower by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 165,902 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $20,909,000 after acquiring an additional 22,036 shares during the period. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Welltower by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WELL traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $161.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,554,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,985,938. The firm has a market cap of $105.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.92. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $108.24 and a twelve month high of $162.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.23. The company's 50 day moving average price is $153.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.47.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 3.41%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Welltower's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Welltower's payout ratio is currently 154.02%.

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.