Connors Investor Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,238 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $10,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.2% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Welltower by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Welltower by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WELL. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.32.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In related news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Welltower Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of WELL traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.41. The company had a trading volume of 2,100,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,725,703. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a current ratio of 3.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.65. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.38 and a 52 week high of $108.06. The company has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.18.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a REIT and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.