Banco Santander S.A. Acquires 126,965 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. significantly increased its stake in Ventas, Inc. by 699.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 126,965 shares and bringing its total holdings to 145,106 shares valued at $9.98 million.
• CEO Debra A. Cafaro and CFO Robert F. Probst both sold substantial amounts of their stock in July 2023, with Cafaro selling 14,753 shares and Probst selling 168,318 shares, representing decreases of 1.27% and 49.99% in their respective positions.
• Ventas reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.87 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.85, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 699.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,106 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 126,965 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Ventas were worth $9,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 3.9% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its position in Ventas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 29,695 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ventas by 1.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,674 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its position in Ventas by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,574 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total value of $967,796.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,157,592. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 168,318 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $11,001,264.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,004,271.04. This represents a 49.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 348,700 shares of company stock valued at $22,776,223 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Ventas stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.46. 318,977 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,116,738. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.67 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $30.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day moving average is $65.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 1.75%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Ventas's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 446.51%.

Ventas Company 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.