Welltower Inc. $WELL Stake Raised by Bahl & Gaynor LLC

Bahl & Gaynor LLC raised its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 211.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 316,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 214,997 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $72,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneco Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 42.4% during the third quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 1,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 5.9% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 53,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,331,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the third quarter valued at $206,000. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 11,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,056,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL opened at $247.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $181.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.11, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.47 and a 1 year high of $255.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $234.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.25.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.03. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 12.08%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 147.19%.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,261,800. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Welltower from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Welltower from $244.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.14.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties. The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.