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

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ventas by 856.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 7,097 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Ventas by 6.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Ventas by 46.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after buying an additional 11,739 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Ventas by 130.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 12,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Ventas in the second quarter valued at approximately $805,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, Director Michael J. Embler bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $91.24 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $90.86 and its 200-day moving average is $86.83. The stock has a market cap of $46.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 168.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.69. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $101.60. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Weiss Ratings raised Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective 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 increased their target price on Ventas from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Fifteen 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

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.