Norges Bank Takes $4.90 Billion Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 31,897,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,903,554,000. Welltower comprises about 0.6% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Norges Bank owned about 4.77% of Welltower at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WELL. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 197.1% during the second quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 46,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,200,000 after buying an additional 31,078 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Welltower by 115.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 84,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,053,000 after acquiring an additional 45,555 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Welltower by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 2,079,070 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $319,615,000 after acquiring an additional 163,969 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Welltower by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 593,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $91,271,000 after acquiring an additional 13,415 shares during the period. Finally, DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $13,521,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WELL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Welltower from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. UBS Group set a $203.00 price objective on Welltower in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.93.

Welltower Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:WELL opened at $206.33 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.11 and a 52-week high of $207.01. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.70. The company has a market capitalization of $141.61 billion, a PE ratio of 142.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.04. Welltower had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 2.71%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.240-5.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 204.14%.

Welltower Company Profile

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.