Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 25.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 503,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 101,234 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Welltower worth $77,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Welltower by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,062,495,000 after buying an additional 2,939,229 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Welltower by 17,343.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,738,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,287,000 after buying an additional 1,728,088 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Welltower by 9.7% in 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 last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $194,272,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Welltower by 9.4% in 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 last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $166.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.74 and a 52-week high of $168.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $155.13 and a 200 day moving average of $149.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.19.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 151.41%.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.82.

Welltower Profile

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.