VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Increases Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. $WELL

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 389,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,000 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Welltower were worth $72,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hartford Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Welltower by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 39,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,371,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Welltower by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,364,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in Welltower by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 9,899 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,837,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $467,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $3,898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Up 1.3%

WELL stock opened at $217.63 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $206.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.77. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.65 and a 12 month high of $219.59. The company has a market cap of $153.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.31.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.34. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.45% and a net margin of 11.96%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.210-6.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Welltower from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Welltower from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.67.

Welltower Company Profile

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.