Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,310 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Presima Securities ULC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after acquiring an additional 121,193 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 12,969 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 726.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $296,100,000 after acquiring an additional 123,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $65.78 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.66 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The company has a market capitalization of $29.69 billion, a PE ratio of 346.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.94.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total value of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,481 shares of company stock valued at $21,385,983 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Profile

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.