Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Stake Lessened by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. cut its stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 149,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $13,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 338.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Welltower during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.32.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $110.31. The stock had a trading volume of 951,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,659,811. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $111.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.25, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

Insider Activity at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently 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.