Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 6,478 Welltower Inc. $WELL

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Leonteq Securities AG increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 124.6% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WELL. Citigroup boosted their target price on Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays began coverage on Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $254.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $249.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $226.00 target price on the stock. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.11.

Welltower Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:WELL opened at $239.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $232.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.76. Welltower Inc. has a one year low of $163.75 and a one year high of $255.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.360-6.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 155.96%.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.