Franchise Capital Ltd Increases Stock Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Franchise Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 267.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the quarter. Welltower accounts for about 0.1% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Welltower were worth $118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 19,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $603,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 89,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,748,000 after acquiring an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Welltower by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 9,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Welltower in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Welltower from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Welltower from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Welltower from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.69.

Welltower Price Performance

WELL stock opened at $174.12 on Tuesday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.34 and a 1 year high of $180.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 4.19 and a current ratio of 4.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.95. The firm has a market cap of $116.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.37, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.92.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Welltower’s revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.060-5.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 167.23%.

Welltower Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“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 infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience.