Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 84.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 443,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,636 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Welltower were worth $79,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Welltower by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 9,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 14.9% during the third quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.4% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.4% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $231.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Welltower from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho upped their target price on Welltower from $216.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Welltower from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.71.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $207.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $144.86 billion, a PE ratio of 148.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 3.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $195.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.50. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.29 and a 1 year high of $216.43.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 2.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.090-6.25 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 211.43%.

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.