101,045 Shares in Ventas, Inc. $VTR Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 101,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,973,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.0% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.2% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,894 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Ventas by 4.6% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ventas by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $93.32 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.08. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $101.60. The firm has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 172.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Ventas from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on Ventas from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ventas from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Embler acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $78.81 per share, for a total transaction of $197,025.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 19,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,309.62. This trade represents a 14.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Profile

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.