Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,117 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,470 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $5,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,609,690 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $484,385,000 after buying an additional 105,658 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Welltower by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 280,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,123,000 after buying an additional 70,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Welltower by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

Welltower stock opened at $210.23 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.55 and a 1 year high of $216.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $205.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.50. The company has a market cap of $148.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.17, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 3.46.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 211.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WELL shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $204.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $218.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $214.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.43.

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.