Welltower Inc. $WELL Stock: Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Holdings

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 545,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,411 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Welltower were worth $125,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 5.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 78,049,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,714,830,000 after buying an additional 4,045,458 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Welltower by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,138,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,564,246,000 after buying an additional 578,033 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Welltower during the second quarter worth about $4,425,089,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Welltower by 2.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,814,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,227,642,000 after buying an additional 207,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Welltower by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,345,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,649,844,000 after acquiring an additional 57,938 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Trading Up 0.9%

WELL stock opened at $247.22 on Tuesday. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.47 and a 1-year high of $255.20. The firm has a market cap of $181.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.03 and its 200-day moving average is $219.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 12.08%. Welltower’s quarterly revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 147.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,261,800. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WELL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Freedom Broker raised Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Welltower from $215.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Welltower from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.81.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties.

The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.