Westpac Banking Corp Trims Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,010 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Ventas were worth $6,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ventas by 1,334.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 52.7% in the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Ventas during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 19,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.29, for a total transaction of $1,449,332.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,259,376.55. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 33,591 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $2,578,781.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $12,925,304.28. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 652,618 shares of company stock valued at $47,791,654 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ventas from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Ventas in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ventas from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.36.

Ventas Stock Up 1.0%

VTR opened at $78.01 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.32. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.68 and a 52 week high of $78.09. The firm has a market cap of $36.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.01, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 2.10% and a net margin of 4.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.450-3.480 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 369.23%.

Ventas Profile

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.