New York, May 31, 2026, 14:02 EDT
- Healthpeak dropped 1.85% Friday, wrapping up the shorter U.S. trading week off roughly 2.9%.
- The stock hit its 52-week high two days ago, then dropped for three sessions in a row.
- Rates, the May jobs number, and whether investors stick with the REIT’s higher 2026 forecast will drive the week ahead.
Healthpeak Properties ended last week lower, falling 1.85% to $19.15 on Friday. Volume was heavier than normal for the healthcare REIT, with the drop following just days after a 52-week high. S&P 500 and Dow both finished Friday up, which set Healthpeak’s decline apart from a broader sector move.
U.S. cash equity markets are shut for the weekend, and last Monday was closed for Memorial Day, so traders only had four days of action to work through. The New York Stock Exchange’s website lists Memorial Day, May 25, as a market holiday in 2026.
Healthpeak (DOC) was up 1.52% Tuesday, finishing at $20.03, but then slipped the rest of the week. Measured from the previous Friday’s close of $19.73, shares dropped around 2.9% for the week.
Healthpeak shares traded on heavy volume Friday, with about 61.9 million shares changing hands versus the 50-day average of 8.6 million shares. The REIT ended the day 5.5% under its 52-week high of $20.27 from May 27.
Healthcare and life science landlords traded mostly lower. Ventas slipped 1.60% Friday, Alexandria Real Estate Equities lost 0.76%, and Welltower dropped 2.36%. The moves kept pressure on the group.
Healthpeak is still coming off a sharp reset in early May. For the first quarter, the company posted net income of 28 cents a share, Nareit FFO of 42 cents, and adjusted FFO of 45 cents. FFO, or funds from operations, is a standard REIT profit metric that adds back property depreciation and strips out some property-sale items.
The company raised its 2026 adjusted FFO outlook to $1.71 to $1.75 per share, up from its prior range of $1.70 to $1.74. It left same-store cash net operating income guidance unchanged at minus 1% to plus 1%. Same-store NOI tracks property-level income for assets owned in both periods.
Healthpeak CEO Scott Brinker said in a company post the company had “excellence in execution” for the quarter and pointed to the Janus Living IPO, its Blackstone outpatient medical JV, and $100 million in April buybacks. Those moves led Healthpeak to raise its guidance. LinkedIn
Healthpeak drew mixed views from analysts after the recent run. Baird’s Wesley Golladay bumped up his price target to $21 from $19 and held the Outperform call. Evercore ISI went the other way, downgrading to In Line from Outperform, though it also lifted its target to $21, saying there wasn’t as much upside after the move on results.
Rates take center stage this week. Investors are looking to the June 5 U.S. payrolls report, Reuters said. Estimates from a Reuters poll put new jobs at 85,000 with unemployment at 4.3%. A strong number could send Treasury yields up and put pressure on rate-sensitive sectors like REITs.
There’s also income for investors. Healthpeak is paying monthly dividends of $0.10167 per share for April, May and June. The next record date is June 15, and the payment date is June 26. Based on Friday’s close, that comes out to a yield of around 6.4% annualized. Dividend yields move up if the shares drop.
Investors face the risk that the May rally starts to lose momentum. If bond yields climb, REITs like Healthpeak that pay dividends could look less appealing. Weak leasing in Healthpeak’s lab spaces or any delays in using cash from the Janus Living deal could put pressure on the company’s expected 2026-2027 earnings. Management said that timing of deals and market conditions are still just assumptions for their guidance.
