Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,750 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evoke Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,947,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 405.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 171,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,532,000 after buying an additional 137,327 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the first quarter worth $1,005,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at $3,560,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ventas by 11.5% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 802,546 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Down 3.1 %

VTR stock opened at $62.20 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $39.33 and a one year high of $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.71 and its 200 day moving average is $50.83. The firm has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of -327.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.74). The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. Ventas’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -947.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VTR shares. Wolfe Research raised Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.45.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,207,444.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $5,900,767.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock valued at $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is 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.