Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.90 Billion Stock Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 4.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,606,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 487,428 shares during the quarter. Welltower accounts for approximately 1.0% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,899,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,421,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,154,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,088 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Welltower by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 47,431,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,805,411,000 after purchasing an additional 915,514 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Welltower by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 41,760,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,751,134,000 after acquiring an additional 506,374 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,466,264,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,403,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,787,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,668 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Welltower from $248.00 to $232.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $239.00 price target on shares of Welltower in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.72.

Welltower Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:WELL opened at $234.40 on Tuesday. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $155.33 and a one year high of $239.10. The company has a market cap of $165.46 billion, a PE ratio of 116.04, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $216.78 and a 200-day moving average of $205.44.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.53%.

Welltower Profile

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.