Welltower Inc. $WELL Shares Acquired by Meiji Yasuda America Inc

Meiji Yasuda America Inc boosted its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 12.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,755 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,762 shares during the period. Welltower comprises approximately 1.7% of Meiji Yasuda America Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Meiji Yasuda America Inc’s holdings in Welltower were worth $6,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Welltower by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,421,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,154,349,000 after buying an additional 2,643,088 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 47,431,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,805,411,000 after acquiring an additional 915,514 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Welltower by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 41,760,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,751,134,000 after acquiring an additional 506,374 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $5,466,264,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,403,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,787,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WELL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Welltower from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho set a $239.00 target price on Welltower in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $249.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.72.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL stock opened at $246.59 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $174.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.77. Welltower Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.24 and a 12-month high of $247.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.69.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.34. Welltower had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 3.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.210-6.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 146.53%.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.