Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 193,737 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $13,321,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the first quarter valued at about $206,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the first quarter valued at about $571,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the first quarter valued at about $2,905,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.9% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 164,819 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B&I Capital AG increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 54.4% during the first quarter. B&I Capital AG now owns 142,850 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,822,000 after acquiring an additional 50,350 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. This represents a 16.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total value of $93,025.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 343,588 shares of company stock valued at $22,415,190. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,928,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,687,268. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.09 and a 1-year high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $30.00 billion, a PE ratio of 201.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50 day moving average price is $64.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. Ventas's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's payout ratio is 581.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Ventas

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.