Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 71.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Welltower were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WELL. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Welltower by 53.8% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,275,000 after acquiring an additional 8,400 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,930,894 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,915,000 after purchasing an additional 204,317 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 195,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,214,000 after purchasing an additional 45,214 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 291,146 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,040,000 after purchasing an additional 50,900 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in Welltower by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 753,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,826,000 after purchasing an additional 164,708 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $233.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $164.78 billion, a PE ratio of 115.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.31. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.23 and a 1 year high of $239.10.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.210-6.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WELL. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Welltower from $248.00 to $232.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho set a $239.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.72.

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.