Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 221.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 138,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,559 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Welltower were worth $14,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in Welltower by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,764 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Welltower by 5.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,748,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $286,487,000 after buying an additional 134,611 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 12.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,392,000 after buying an additional 4,531 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in Welltower by 4.4% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 112,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,755,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $295,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WELL shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Welltower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.38.

Welltower Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $128.60 on Tuesday. Welltower Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.38 and a 52-week high of $131.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $118.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.03. The firm has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.76, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. Welltower’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 330.86%.

Welltower Company Profile

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.