Oct 27 (Reuters) - Welltower ( WELL ) raised its 2025 funds from

operations forecast on Monday and announced $23 billion in deals

to deepen its bet on the booming senior-housing sector demand,

while pivoting away from slower-growing medical-office assets.

The real estate investment trust, which owns senior housing,

outpatient medical centers, and healthcare properties across the

U.S., Canada, and the UK, said the deals include $14 billion in

acquisitions of senior housing communities either closed or

under contract, a $7.2 billion divestiture of its outpatient

medical portfolio, and additional investments.

Welltower ( WELL ) expects that these transactions will add to its

normalized funds from operations in 2026. The deals are expected

to be fully funded through cash and $9 billion of incremental

asset sales, loan payoffs and other capital recycling activity.

The company now expects 2025 normalized FFO, a key

performance measure for REITs, in the range of $5.24 to $5.30

per share, compared to its previous range of $5.06 to $5.14

apiece. This is above the analysts' average estimate of $5.11

per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Welltower ( WELL ) reported normalized FFO of $1.34 per share for the

quarter ended September 30, representing a 20.7% rise from the

previous year, and surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.30

per share. This continues the company's streak of consecutive

quarterly beats, now extending to five.

The increasing population of older Americans and their

growing healthcare needs have led to a surge in demand for

senior living communities.

Welltower's ( WELL ) same-store net operating income from its

senior-housing properties rose 14.5% year over year.

However, the company posted a net profit of 41 cents per

share for the quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations

of 52 cents per share.

Welltower ( WELL ) also announced a "10 year program" under which its

five executive officers will receive no other compensation than

$110,000 of annual base salary and a long-term incentive award

from 2026 through 2035.