Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 273,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $16,097,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Ventas at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,207,000 after purchasing an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $365,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ventas by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $361,184,000 after buying an additional 335,192 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VTR shares. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $64.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 342.07, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.94. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.66 and a 12-month high of $71.36.

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

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.