Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Stock Position in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,032 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,251 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Welltower were worth $3,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WELL. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Welltower by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 333,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,036,000 after buying an additional 18,351 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 36,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,300,000 after acquiring an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WELL. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.32.

Welltower Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WELL traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $109.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,104,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,810,044. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.31. The company has a market capitalization of $65.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.53, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $111.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 1.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 301.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total transaction of $187,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.