Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stake Reduced by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 49.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,378 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,952 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Welltower by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,674,826,000 after acquiring an additional 318,496 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Welltower by 9.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Welltower by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,430,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,062,495,000 after acquiring an additional 2,939,229 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Welltower by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,632,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $961,950,000 after acquiring an additional 712,279 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Welltower by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,956,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,065,820,000 after acquiring an additional 877,856 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of WELL opened at $164.58 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $157.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.93. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.18 and a 1-year high of $171.09. The company has a current ratio of 4.19, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The firm 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%. Welltower’s revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 151.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.82.

Welltower Company 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.