Legal & General Group Plc Grows Stake in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,352,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 100,317 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.18% of Ventas worth $338,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VTR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,113,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 4.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,796,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,533,937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,751 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 9.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 32,347,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,224,203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811,241 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Ventas by 451.9% during the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,316,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $146,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 289.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,603,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,243,000 after buying an additional 1,191,773 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 112,564 shares in the company, valued at $8,442,300. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 33,591 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $2,578,781.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,925,304.28. This represents a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 698,912 shares of company stock worth $51,454,499 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $79.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.68 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 152.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.88.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. Ventas had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 2.10%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.450-3.480 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 369.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus restated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.36.

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.