Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 142,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $32,435,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Leonteq Securities AG grew its position in shares of Welltower by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Welltower by 124.6% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $237.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $239.47 per share, with a total value of $1,197,350.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,986,750. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $239.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $234.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.45. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.75 and a 1-year high of $255.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The company has a market cap of $172.56 billion, a PE ratio of 109.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.76.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.05). Welltower had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.360-6.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

Welltower Company 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.