Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,158 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Welltower were worth $2,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at $2,453,039,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,757,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,615,662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,673 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,084 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings 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 valued at $2,085,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,072,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $96,688,000 after acquiring an additional 639,355 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL opened at $103.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $62.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.16. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.86 and a fifty-two week high of $105.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $96.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.52. 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 (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 301.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WELL shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company 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.