E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Purchases New Shares in Welltower Inc. $WELL

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,266,000 after buying an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 7.3% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 27.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Welltower from $239.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $254.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Welltower from $248.00 to $232.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $237.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.11.

Welltower Stock Up 0.8%

WELL stock opened at $237.57 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $231.96 and a 200-day moving average of $215.66. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.75 and a fifty-two week high of $255.20. The company has a market capitalization of $171.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.98, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.16.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.40 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The company’s revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.360-6.440 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 155.96%.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.