Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,579,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,540 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.24% of Welltower worth $239,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp raised its position in Welltower by 704.8% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.69.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $165.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19. The firm has a market cap of $110.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.38. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.11 and a 1-year high of $180.40.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 167.23%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“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 infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience.