Connors Investor Services Inc. Buys 11,238 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 11,238 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc.'s holdings in Welltower were worth $10,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $2,453,039,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,748,369,000 after purchasing an additional 5,173,079 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,132,262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,085,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,150 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $507,771,000 after purchasing an additional 849,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,072,283 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $96,688,000 after purchasing an additional 639,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Welltower from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho boosted 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.32.

Welltower Trading Up 1.4 %

WELL traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.41. 2,100,836 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,725,703. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.18. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $108.06. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $103.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.65. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is 301.23%.

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.

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