Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Sold by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. SouthState Corp grew its stake in Welltower by 704.8% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Stock Up 1.0%

Welltower stock opened at $177.99 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.34 and a fifty-two week high of $178.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.19. The company has a market capitalization of $119.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.56, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.14.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 167.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WELL. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Welltower from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Welltower from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.42.

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.