Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Buys New Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,754 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Welltower by 2.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. RDA Financial Network grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 16,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,685,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 12,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Welltower Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WELL opened at $125.18 on Monday. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.80 and a 1-year high of $131.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $122.69 and a 200 day moving average of $108.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.54, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business 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 was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 330.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.38.

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.