EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $27.75 Million Stock Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in Welltower Inc. by 4,257.5%, acquiring a total of 181,143 shares, which are now valued at approximately $27.75 million.
• Welltower reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.28, surpassing analysts' expectations, and showed a revenue increase of 39.6% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a dividend increase to $0.74 per share from its previous $0.67, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 4,257.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 176,986 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $27,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WELL. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in Welltower by 704.8% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Welltower during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $167.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,700,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,899,355. The company has a market capitalization of $112.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.34 and a 52-week high of $171.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $161.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.67. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is currently 167.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $175.00.

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.