Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $7.04 Million Investment in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 35,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $7,038,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WELL. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Welltower by 104.5% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 41,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares during the period. Park Edge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 5,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Welltower by 15.9% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $239.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $237.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Welltower from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.25.

Welltower Stock Performance

Welltower stock opened at $223.41 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.97 and a 12-month high of $224.47. The company has a market capitalization of $157.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $211.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.85.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 3.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.210-6.350 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 146.53%.

About Welltower

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.