Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 76,239 Shares of Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in Ventas, Inc. by 4.9% during the second quarter, selling 76,239 shares and owning approximately 0.33% of the company, valued at $93.7 million.
• CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli and CEO Debra A. Cafaro both sold shares recently, resulting in a significant decrease in their respective ownership stakes within the company.
• Analysts are optimistic about Ventas, with several firms raising their price targets and issuing "buy" or "overweight" ratings, leading to an average target price of $75.46.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,484,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 76,239 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.33% of Ventas worth $93,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 13,677.8% during the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,240 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ventas by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 921,752 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,209,000 after buying an additional 46,125 shares during the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 6,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,156,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.8% in the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 2,554 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total transaction of $179,444.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 116,488 shares in the company, valued at $8,184,446.88. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 219,515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.32, for a total value of $15,655,809.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $81,710,967.40. This represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 289,072 shares of company stock worth $20,427,497. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Ventas in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.46.

Ventas Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VTR stock opened at $70.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 163.68, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $68.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.58. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.68 and a 1 year high of $72.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%.The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.410-3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 446.51%.

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.

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