Welltower Inc. $WELL Stock: Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Position

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 4.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,661 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $17,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $168,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 0.4% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 41,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,545,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 110.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 48,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,168,000 after purchasing an additional 25,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $238.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Welltower from $226.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Welltower from $260.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $256.00 price objective (down from $260.00) on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $244.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.14.

Insider Activity

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $242.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,210,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,261,800. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $247.42 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.47 and a 52-week high of $255.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $234.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 3.16.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 147.19%.

Welltower Profile

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.