AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 4,955 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,955 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $14,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Foundation Advisors bought a new stake in Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Welltower in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Welltower during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Welltower by 338.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Down 0.3 %

WELL stock opened at $127.65 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $131.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.52. The company has a current ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.32 billion, a PE ratio of 157.59, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.21.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 330.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Welltower from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.38.

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.