DNB Asset Management AS Purchases 7,432 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 95,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,432 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Welltower were worth $9,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Welltower by 1.2% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 4.8% in the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Welltower by 2.4% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Welltower by 4.5% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WELL. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $3.92 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $114.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,860,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,697,771. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.18. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.38 and a 12 month high of $115.86. The company has a current ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 301.23%.

Insider Activity at Welltower

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

About Welltower

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.