Virtu Financial LLC Invests $548,000 in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,867 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Welltower in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $103.00 to $107.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.32.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In related news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total value of $187,038.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $112.76. 2,759,028 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,680,409. The company has a current ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.85. Welltower Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $115.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.18.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s 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.