Eastern Bank Sells 755 Shares of Welltower Inc. $WELL

Eastern Bank reduced its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 65.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 755 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Welltower were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WELL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Welltower in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the first quarter worth about $230,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 13.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Welltower by 0.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,064 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,227,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $165.84 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.48. Welltower Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.11 and a 52 week high of $180.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.92 billion, a PE ratio of 93.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 4.19, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 3.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 167.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.69.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“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 infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience.