Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired 45,124 shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR), valued at approximately $3,103,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Insider transactions included CEO Debra A. Cafaro selling 14,753 shares and CFO Robert F. Probst selling 168,318 shares, marking significant decreases in their respective holdings.
• VTR received multiple rating adjustments from analysts, including an increase in price targets, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $74.36.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 45,124 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,103,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 66,748 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 14,568 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $276,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 376,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,921,000 after purchasing an additional 77,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 29,691 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $2,033,536.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,531,250.36. This represents a 14.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.80, for a total value of $699,831.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,678,121. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,788 shares of company stock worth $18,279,081. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR traded up $0.19 on Tuesday, hitting $68.27. 2,434,543 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,037,166. 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's 50-day moving average price is $66.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.27. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.68 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $31.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.87.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%.The company's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.410-3.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

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.