Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 1,312 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 11.5% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $345,667,000 after buying an additional 802,546 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,931,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $304,047,000 after acquiring an additional 96,482 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Ventas by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,489,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000,000 after acquiring an additional 413,564 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth $135,425,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Ventas by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,756,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $90,051,000 after purchasing an additional 7,585 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.67.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $63.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -335.88, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.44. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.33 and a 1-year high of $65.64.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently -947.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $389,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,900,767.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.