Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys New Shares in Ventas, Inc. $VTR

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,581,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $140,441,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 856.1% in the first 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. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Ventas by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Ventas by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 11,739 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Ventas by 130.4% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Ventas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $805,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VTR shares. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $91.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.83. The stock has a market cap of $46.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 168.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.69. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $101.60.

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

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, Director Michael J. Embler acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 19,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,309.62. This represents a 14.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by 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.