Empowered Funds LLC Takes $969,000 Position in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 856.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 7,097 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 46.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 11,739 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted 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 buying an additional 12,233 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $805,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Ventas by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 81,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,145,000 after buying an additional 18,753 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on VTR shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ventas from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ventas from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.00.

Ventas Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of VTR stock opened at $90.27 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.38 and a 12-month high of $101.60. The company has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a PE ratio of 167.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

Ventas Profile

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.