Huntington National Bank Grows Stake in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 37.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,705 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 4.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,778,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,993,121,000 after buying an additional 3,991,896 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 167.2% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,247,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $756,607,000 after buying an additional 2,657,766 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 4.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,516,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,285,296,000 after buying an additional 1,842,934 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 41,253,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,348,979,000 after buying an additional 1,637,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,007,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,155,047,000 after buying an additional 774,692 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Trading Down 2.0%

WELL stock opened at $206.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.65. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.60 and a 52-week high of $221.68. The firm has a market cap of $145.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.03, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.34. Welltower had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 3.45%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.210-6.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 146.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WELL shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $218.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $240.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.00.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.