Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 1,802,515 Shares of Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,598,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,802,515 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 15.67% of Ventas worth $5,151,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the second quarter worth $344,740,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Ventas by 451.9% in the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,316,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $146,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,627 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ventas by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,998,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,781,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388,678 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 36.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,812,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $303,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ventas by 74.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,586,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $181,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,948 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.66, for a total transaction of $801,606.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,114,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,515,880.44. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 35,532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $3,020,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 72,755 shares in the company, valued at $6,184,175. This trade represents a 32.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,106 shares of company stock valued at $6,931,397. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VTR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ventas from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price objective on Ventas in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.87.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $86.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.21 billion, a PE ratio of 160.68, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.76 and its 200 day moving average is $74.18. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of ($1,229.71) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 2.09%. The company’s revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Ventas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.780-3.880 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 355.56%.

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.