7,046,531 Shares in Welltower Inc. $WELL Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,046,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,351,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.98% of Welltower at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Leonteq Securities AG raised its position 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 boosted its position 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. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Welltower in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Welltower in the third quarter worth $33,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on WELL shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Welltower from $248.00 to $232.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.11.

Welltower Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $240.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.13, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.76. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.75 and a 12-month high of $255.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.05). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 12.15%.The company had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 39.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.360-6.440 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.