ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Buys Shares of 64,495 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has invested approximately $4.43 million in Ventas, Inc. by acquiring 64,495 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Ventas, with Royal Bank of Canada raising the price target from $74.00 to $75.00 and JPMorgan Chase & Co. moving from a "neutral" to an "overweight" rating with a target of $72.00.
• Ventas recently reported earnings of $0.87 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking an 18.3% increase in year-over-year revenue.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 64,495 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,434,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,941,561 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,740,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,551 shares in the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $213,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,320 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 6,416 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,119,000. Finally, Allianz SE lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 25,352 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 2,764 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ventas Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE VTR traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,692,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,788,376. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.68 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $64.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 159.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.87.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 1.75%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 446.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total transaction of $967,796.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,157,592. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 378,391 shares of company stock valued at $24,809,760 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Profile

Ventas Inc NYSE: VTR is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments.