Vestcor Inc Buys 1,333 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Welltower were worth $18,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geller Advisors LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 1.2% in the first quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 1.8% in the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 4.3% in the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Welltower news, Director Andrew Gundlach bought 20,000 shares of Welltower stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $151.46 per share, for a total transaction of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,029,200. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL opened at $166.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 4.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.56 billion, a PE ratio of 93.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.92. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.74 and a 1 year high of $167.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.48% and a net margin of 12.18%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 154.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.18.

About Welltower

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.