Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor Buys New Shares in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 98,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,775,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 856.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 7,097 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in 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 period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Ventas during the second quarter worth approximately $805,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, Director Michael J. Embler bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $78.81 per share, with a total value of $197,025.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,202 shares in the company, valued at $1,513,309.62. This represents a 14.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Down 0.4%

VTR opened at $91.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $46.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 168.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.69. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.38 and a fifty-two week high of $101.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.68 and a 200-day moving average of $86.72.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 1.99%. The business’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ventas from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Ventas from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.00.

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.