Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Purchased by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Welltower were worth $4,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RDA Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 16,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $125.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. The company has a market cap of $74.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $117.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.37. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $131.31.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 330.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WELL. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.38.

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.