New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 340,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 39,725 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Ventas worth $17,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VTR. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ventas by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at $27,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 104,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,863 shares of company stock valued at $3,682,554 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.31.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.50. The company had a trading volume of 864,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,287,594. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month high of $59.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a PE ratio of -311.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $54.00 and its 200 day moving average is $48.23.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. Ventas’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

About Ventas

Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments.