North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases New Holdings in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter, buying 15,534 shares valued at about $1.2 million.
• Institutional ownership in Ventas remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 94.18% of the stock. Several large firms, including Vanguard, JPMorgan Chase, and State Street, also increased their stakes.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Ventas, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $94.63. The stock was trading around $88.38, and the company recently reported quarterly revenue that topped estimates despite missing EPS expectations.

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,534 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,202,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,948,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,876,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,349,176 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,701,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,078,794,000 after acquiring an additional 387,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,927,015 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,038,176,000 after acquiring an additional 928,386 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,601,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $462,002,000 after acquiring an additional 160,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,402,941 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $448,142,000 after acquiring an additional 108,990 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,152 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 28,349 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,079.80. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VTR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $80.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.63.

Ventas Stock Up 0.3%

Ventas stock opened at $88.38 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $85.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.58. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.76 and a twelve month high of $91.06. The firm has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a PE ratio of 160.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.01). Ventas had a return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 4.25%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ventas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.820-3.890 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is 378.18%.

About Ventas

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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