Man Group plc Acquires New Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 56,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $12,863,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth $5,466,264,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in Welltower by 955.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 9,513,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,765,808,000 after buying an additional 8,612,016 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Welltower during the second quarter worth about $1,599,351,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Welltower by 153.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,744,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,994,290,000 after buying an additional 6,497,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Welltower by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 78,049,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,714,830,000 after buying an additional 4,045,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $239.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,197,350.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,986,750. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $239.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.11.

Welltower Price Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $239.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.16. The stock has a market cap of $172.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.82, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.45. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.75 and a 52-week high of $255.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Welltower had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The company had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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. Analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

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

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.