Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Welltower were worth $5,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,388,151,000 after buying an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,674,826,000 after buying an additional 318,496 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,989,106,000 after buying an additional 1,354,231 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 1.6%

WELL opened at $155.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.23. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $104.10 and a one year high of $158.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.92.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.41% and a net margin of 12.65%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 154.02%.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.18.

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.