Venturi Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 91.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 508 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WELL. Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,999,000 after buying an additional 11,238 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $674,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,766,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 41,773 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,903,000 after buying an additional 5,470 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $136.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Welltower Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.40 and a fifty-two week high of $140.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $129.98 and a 200-day moving average of $115.10. The stock has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WELL shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.68.

About Welltower

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.