Welltower Inc. $WELL Stock Position Trimmed by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co reduced its stake in Welltower Inc. by 19.0%, selling 4,749 shares, leaving them with 20,280 shares valued at approximately $3.1 million.
• Welltower's quarterly earnings reflected significant growth, with an EPS of $1.28, surpassing estimates by $0.06, and a revenue increase of 39.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a dividend increase from $0.67 to $0.74 per share, resulting in a current dividend yield of 1.8%.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co cut its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,280 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,749 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Welltower were worth $3,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Welltower by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,914 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $169,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $713,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought 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 owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL opened at $167.78 on Monday. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.34 and a 12-month high of $171.09. The stock has a market cap of $112.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.79, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $162.15 and a 200-day moving average of $153.84. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The company 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 business's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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 year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is 167.23%.

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.

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