Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 271,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 74,496 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $28,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 3.1% during the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 5.5% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Welltower by 1.5% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 191,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,985,000 after acquiring an additional 2,855 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Welltower by 3.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 164,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,193,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 1.7% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 238,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,846,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WELL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.58.

Welltower Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $124.60 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $125.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.83, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.18. 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 earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s payout ratio is 330.86%.

Welltower 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.