Citigroup Inc. Grows Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 73.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 419,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 178,210 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $28,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,941,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,740,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,551 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $365,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,705 shares in the last quarter. Rush Island Management LP increased its holdings in Ventas by 130.6% in the fourth quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,431,000 after buying an additional 1,754,494 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Ventas by 1,489.5% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,750,000 after buying an additional 1,364,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at $67,719,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $68.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.51. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.68 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.46, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 1.75%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Ventas’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total value of $967,796.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,157,592. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 168,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total value of $11,001,264.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,004,271.04. This trade represents a 49.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 378,391 shares of company stock worth $24,809,760 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Company 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.