Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Invests $674,000 in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $8,857,000. Connors Investor Services Inc. grew its position in Welltower by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 117,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,999,000 after buying an additional 11,238 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Welltower by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,118,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,072,000 after buying an additional 523,656 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in Welltower by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 89,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,085,000 after buying an additional 18,807 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in shares of Welltower by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,019,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $91,955,000 after buying an additional 72,968 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Trading Up 0.5 %

Welltower stock opened at $117.15 on Wednesday. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.38 and a 12 month high of $117.98. The company has a quick ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.43.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 330.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.19.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 14,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.