Plato Investment Management Ltd Takes $538,000 Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,349,176 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,662,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,309,234,000 after buying an additional 735,620 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,988,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,001,447,000 after buying an additional 475,633 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,176,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $710,060,000 after buying an additional 2,000,341 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $594,116,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR stock opened at $91.24 on Wednesday. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.38 and a 52 week high of $101.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.80 billion, a PE ratio of 168.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $90.86 and its 200-day moving average is $86.83.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.99% and a net margin of 4.08%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VTR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ventas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Embler bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $78.81 per share, with a total value of $197,025.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 19,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,309.62. The trade was a 14.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.