Virtus Advisers LLC Takes Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc., purchasing 7,800 shares valued at approximately $536,000.
• Wall Street analysts have varied opinions on Ventas, with ratings from "Strong Buy" to "Sell," and target prices increasing from $70 to $78.
• CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares at an average price of $67.40, indicating some insider activity within the company.

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at $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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.40, for a total value of $695,702.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,219,843. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This represents a 16.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 307,340 shares of company stock valued at $20,221,787 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $67.7150 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $30.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.48, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $65.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.98. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.68 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 1.75%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.410-3.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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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