6,703 Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,703 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Welltower were worth $10,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WELL. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Welltower by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 25,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,955,000 after buying an additional 8,824 shares during the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in Welltower during the third quarter worth $218,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in Welltower by 3.3% during the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 32.2% in the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 34,222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,879,000 after acquiring an additional 8,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 241.3% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $247.12 on Thursday. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.47 and a twelve month high of $255.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.56. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $181.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.98, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business’s revenue was up 38.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 6.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $242.06 per share, with a total value of $1,210,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,261,800. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Welltower

Here are a few of the latest headlines about WELL:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $289 from $269 and maintained a Buy rating, implying about 16.9% upside from the cited share price. UBS price target article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lifted its target to $273 from $260 and assigned an Overweight rating, indicating continued confidence in Welltower’s prospects. JPMorgan price target article
• Positive Sentiment: RBC raised its target to $266 from $260 and maintained an Outperform rating. RBC price target article

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Welltower from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Welltower from $266.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $238.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $226.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $263.10.

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.