Welltower Inc. $WELL Stock: Cornerstone Advisors LLC Trims Holdings

Cornerstone Advisors LLC cut its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 11,973 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $20,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. RHL Group LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 146.7% during the 3rd quarter. RHL Group LLC now owns 111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 42.6% in the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $242.06 per share, with a total value of $1,210,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,261,800. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Purchased indirectly through two trusts. The transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $241.59 to $242.59. The reported $242.06 price is the weighted-average purchase price. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Down 0.1%

WELL opened at $244.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.17. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.47 and a 1-year high of $255.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.79.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 12.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 6.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WELL. Citigroup boosted their price target on Welltower from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Welltower from $260.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $266.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.10.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support health care and aging. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical facilities and post-acute care properties. The company works with senior housing operators, health care providers and other partners to own, lease and manage properties. Its operations span the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1970 as Health Care REIT, the company adopted the Welltower name in 2015.