Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes $688,000 Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,904,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $302,114,000 after purchasing an additional 27,688 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,868,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $222,000,000 after buying an additional 70,459 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $474,571,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ventas by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,346,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,095,000 after buying an additional 92,236 shares during the period. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in Ventas by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,851,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,305,000 after buying an additional 101,370 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on VTR shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Ventas from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ventas from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Ventas from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ventas from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.00.

Ventas Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $93.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $101.60. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 172.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.36 and a 200 day moving average of $87.08.

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

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, Director Michael J. Embler bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $78.81 per share, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 14.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.