HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 23,901 Shares of Ventas, Inc. $VTR

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 29.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 57,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 23,901 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $5,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VTR. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Ventas by 9,549.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 65,366,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,804,535,000 after purchasing an additional 64,688,974 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,953,439,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $594,116,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $474,571,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $501,850,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.00.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $90.50 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.54 and a 12 month high of $101.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.94 and a 200-day moving average of $87.95. The company has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 167.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.70.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Profile

Ventas, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of healthcare and senior living properties. Its real estate platform includes senior housing communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, and other healthcare-related facilities.

The company generally leases or operates its properties through relationships with healthcare providers, senior living operators, universities, and research institutions. Its properties support services such as independent and assisted living, skilled nursing, outpatient care, physician practices, medical research, and biotechnology development.

Ventas serves major healthcare and life science markets in the United States and Canada.