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Toledo, OH-based real estate investment trust Welltower announced several steps late Wednesday that the firm has taken in recent weeks to strengthen its balance sheet and enhance its liquidity profile.

March 30, Welltower settled forward sale agreements covering 6.8 million shares of common stock under its at-the-market program at an average price of $86.48 per share. The settlement of these shares resulted in $588 million of gross proceeds which were used to reduce borrowings under the firm’s unsecured revolving credit facility. Additionally on Wednesday, Welltower closed on its previously announced $1 billion two-year unsecured term loan.

These activities, along with other steps taken to increase liquidity completed in the first quarter, have left the company “well-positioned to withstand further capital markets volatility,” the firm reported.

Newton, MA-based real estate investment trust Diversified Healthcare Trust, formerly Senior Housing Properties Trust, announced Thursday that the firm’s board has decided to reduce the company’s regular quarterly cash dividend on its common shares for the first quarter to $0.01 per share, a 93% decrease from its prior dividend of 15 cents. The move will preserve approximately $33.3 million of cash per calendar quarter, according to the REIT.

Diversified Healthcare Trust said it also expects to conserve capital by deferring some previously planned non-essential capital investments. The move is expected to save up to $150 million in 2020.

Also Thursday, the firm announced that it has closed on the sale of four assets for approximately $56 million. The sale includes a portfolio of three senior living communities with a combined 599 units located in California for $47 million.