Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates raised its stake in Welltower by 12.7% in Q3, buying 40,360 shares to hold 359,093 shares (about 0.05% ownership) valued at roughly $63.97 million; institutional investors own about 94.8% of the stock.
• Analysts have pushed up price targets and ratings recently—MarketBeat shows a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a mean target of $224.71, while firms like Citigroup, UBS and Cantor Fitzgerald raised targets as high as $245, $240 and $230 respectively.
• Welltower beat Q earnings expectations ($1.45 vs. $1.44) and reported revenue up 41.3% to $3.18 billion; the company set FY2026 guidance of $6.090–6.25 EPS and paid a $0.74 quarterly dividend (about 1.4% yield) with a high payout ratio of 211%.

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 359,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 40,360 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.05% of Welltower worth $63,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 84.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates acquired a new stake in Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Welltower by 585.7% in the third quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Welltower from $204.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.71.

Welltower Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $207.63 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.29 and a 52-week high of $216.43. The stock has a market cap of $144.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.31, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.81. The company has a quick ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 2.46%. The company's revenue was up 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.090-6.25 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 211.43%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc NYSE: WELL is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower's assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company's property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.

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