Norges Bank Buys Shares of 6,132,989 Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Key Points

• Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ventas, acquiring 6,132,989 shares valued at about $474.6 million, or roughly 1.31% of the REIT.
• Ventas reported Q1 earnings of $0.11 per share, missing estimates by a penny, though revenue came in at $1.65 billion, above expectations and up 22% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share and currently has a Moderate Buy analyst consensus with an average price target of $95.19.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,132,989 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $474,571,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.31% of Ventas at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 36,713 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,570,000 after acquiring an additional 18,146 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,598,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,151,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,515 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,487,572 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $170,946,000 after acquiring an additional 85,340 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 3rd quarter valued at about $919,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,580,923 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $109,985,000 after acquiring an additional 120,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,152 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.20, for a total transaction of $103,910.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,557,079.80. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $81.58 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.76 and a 52-week high of $91.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.32. The company has a market capitalization of $39.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.01). Ventas had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 2.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ventas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.820-3.890 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 378.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.19.

Ventas Profile

Ventas, Inc NYSE: VTR is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in healthcare-related real estate. The company acquires, owns and manages a diversified portfolio of properties serving the healthcare continuum, including senior housing communities, skilled nursing facilities, medical office buildings, life science and research centers, and other properties leased to healthcare providers and operators. Ventas generates revenue through long-term leases, property management and selective development activities focused on meeting the real estate needs of the healthcare sector.

Ventas' business model combines property ownership with active asset management and capital markets activity.

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