National Pension Service Increases Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Ventas, Inc. by 10.8%, owning a total of 597,176 shares valued at approximately $41 million after acquiring additional shares in the 1st quarter.
• Insider transactions revealed that EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares for over $1.5 million, leading to a 16.77% decrease in their position, while CEO Debra A. Cafaro also sold shares valued at around $695,000.
• Analysts have generally upgraded their outlook on Ventas, with the price target raised by firms like JPMorgan and Royal Bank of Canada, indicating a consensus target price of $73.40 and a "Moderate Buy" rating.

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 597,176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 58,265 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.13% of Ventas worth $41,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter worth $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Ventas by 1,334.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Franchise Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.40.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of Ventas stock traded up $1.0620 on Wednesday, hitting $69.0220. 1,562,785 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,077,374. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 160.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.78. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.68 and a 1-year high of $71.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.410-3.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total value of $967,796.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,157,592. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 168,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total value of $11,001,264.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,004,271.04. The trade was a 49.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 307,340 shares of company stock worth $20,221,787. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas 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.