Korea Investment CORP Makes New Investment in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 242,074 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $21,496,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VTR. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Ventas in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Insider Activity at Ventas

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

Ventas Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VTR stock opened at $93.32 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $101.60. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 172.81, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Ventas Company 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.