Commerce Bank Reduces Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Commerce Bank reduced its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,362 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Welltower were worth $2,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower during the first quarter worth $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth $31,000. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth $32,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.82.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $166.32 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.34. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.74 and a 12-month high of $168.84. The company has a current ratio of 4.19, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $111.24 billion, a PE ratio of 93.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 167.23%.

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.