Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 67.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Welltower were worth $596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,062,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939,229 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,728,088 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in 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 valued at $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at about $194,272,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,200. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WELL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.82.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $166.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.23. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.74 and a 1 year high of $168.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $155.13 and a 200 day moving average of $149.20. The company has a market cap of $111.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.97, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

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.