Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Purchases 3,900 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 100.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at $353,000. State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Ventas by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Ventas by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 223,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,174,000 after buying an additional 20,746 shares in the last quarter. Rush Island Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 130.6% in the 4th quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Ventas by 226.9% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 426,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,104,000 after acquiring an additional 295,873 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VTR shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR stock opened at $65.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.66 and a twelve month high of $71.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 346.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Ventas’s payout ratio is 581.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.