Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Takes Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 5,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VTR. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 856.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,097 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 6.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 46.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 11,739 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Ventas by 130.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 12,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $805,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on Ventas from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ventas from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.00.

Ventas Stock Up 1.1%

Ventas stock opened at $92.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.04. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $101.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 171.89, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.99% and a net margin of 4.08%.The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael J. Embler acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $78.81 per share, for a total transaction of $197,025.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,309.62. This represents a 14.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ventas

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.