Drake & Associates LLC Decreases Position in Welltower Inc. $WELL

Drake & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 15.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,946 shares during the period. Welltower comprises 0.6% of Drake & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $3,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. State Street Corp lifted its position in Welltower by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,616,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,090,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740,196 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the second quarter worth $4,903,554,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,012,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,303,484,000 after purchasing an additional 723,887 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,214,232,000 after purchasing an additional 149,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 5.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,329,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,126,732,000 after buying an additional 372,697 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Welltower from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $246.00 target price on shares of Welltower in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.80.

Welltower News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Welltower this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised FY‑2026 FFO guidance to $6.09–$6.25 (well above consensus), citing stronger senior‑housing demand — a major catalyst for investor optimism. Welltower outlines 2026 FFO per share guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results showed FFO of $1.45 (beat) and revenue of $3.18B (beat); same‑store NOI growth of 15% and 20.4% SSNOI growth in the Seniors Housing Operating portfolio point to improving operations and margin expansion. Welltower Reports Fourth Quarter 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management disclosed heavy capital deployment: roughly $5.7B in new acquisitions and ~$13.9B of pro rata investments closed in Q4, while also executing $7.5B of dispositions — signaling active portfolio reshaping and growth. Welltower Surges Amid Strong Healthcare REIT Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Board announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74/share (record Feb 25, payable Mar 10), which supports income investor interest. (Company release)
• Neutral Sentiment: Welltower posted a formal business update and released the full Q4 earnings call/slides — useful for digging into guidance assumptions, SHOP strategy, and capital plan. Welltower Issues Business Update
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings‑call transcripts are available for deeper read on execution, leasing/occupancy trends and SHOP outlook. Welltower Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Management is increasing exposure to SHOP but the CEO warned execution “is harder than it looks,” highlighting operational risk as WELL scales operating assets. Welltower Increases Exposure to SHOP, CEO Warns
• Negative Sentiment: Welltower plans to divest ~$1.3B of Integra‑related nursing‑home assets (about $800M sold in 4Q), a near‑term shrinkage of that exposure that could reflect portfolio repricing or operational reprioritization. Welltower to Divest Integra‑Related Nursing Home Assets
• Negative Sentiment: Media reported an investigation into a UK care‑home deal tied to a US buyer (coverage of a £6B takeover), which could pose regulatory or reputational risk for transactions in that market. Investigation into UK care‑home deal

Welltower Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of WELL stock opened at $208.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 5.47. The company has a market cap of $142.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.85. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.29 and a 1 year high of $212.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.96.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.56% and a net margin of 8.64%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Welltower’s quarterly revenue was up 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Welltower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.090-6.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 211.43%.

Welltower 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.