Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. grew its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,685 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,748,369,000 after purchasing an additional 5,173,079 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter worth about $2,453,039,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Welltower by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,132,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,085,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,150 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,012,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,173,337,000 after purchasing an additional 87,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,986,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,141,000 after purchasing an additional 99,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WELL. StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.50.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,204,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,687,225. The company has a quick ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.90 and a twelve month high of $106.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.72). The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The business’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 301.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at $1,514,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.