Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board drastically reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 92.1%, selling over a million shares, leaving them with holdings valued at approximately $14.81 million.
• Other institutional investors have increased their positions in Welltower, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new position valued at about $762 million, while GAMMA Investing LLC's stake surged by 17,343.3%.
• Welltower reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.28, exceeding expectations, alongside a revenue increase of 39.6% year-over-year.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 92.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,663 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,127,269 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Welltower were worth $14,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Geller Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $175.00.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $167.78. 2,700,826 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,899,355. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $161.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.34 and a 1 year high of $171.09.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Welltower's payout ratio is presently 167.23%.

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.