Welltower Inc. $WELL Holdings Raised by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $4,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth about $762,204,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Welltower by 41.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,923,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,367,226,000 after buying an additional 2,622,384 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Welltower by 14.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,289,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,261,792,000 after buying an additional 2,614,562 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its position in Welltower by 55.6% during the first quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 3,013,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $461,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Welltower by 65.2% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,648,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $399,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,507 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Down 0.5%

WELL opened at $174.12 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.37 and a 200-day moving average of $156.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.92. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.34 and a 1-year high of $180.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 167.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Friday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Welltower from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Welltower from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.69.

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.