622,580 Shares in Welltower Inc. $WELL Bought by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI has acquired 622,580 shares of Welltower Inc. ($WELL), valued at approximately $95.4 million, increasing its ownership to 0.10% of the company.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their investments in Welltower, reflecting strong institutional interest, with 94.80% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Welltower recently announced a dividend increase, raising its quarterly payout from $0.67 to $0.74, marking a significant shift in its annualized dividend yield to 1.7%.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 622,580 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $95,385,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned approximately 0.10% of Welltower at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 704.8% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $168.39. 1,816,342 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,090,656. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $163.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.31. The company has a market capitalization of $112.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.14, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.34 and a 12-month high of $171.09.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. One research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.00.

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.