Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Purchased by Qtron Investments LLC

Qtron Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,938 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Welltower by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 231,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,190,000 after acquiring an additional 47,353 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Welltower by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 678,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,567,000 after acquiring an additional 14,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 38,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL opened at $162.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.19. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.18 and a 1 year high of $171.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.74 billion, a PE ratio of 91.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released 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. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 167.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.