Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Makes New $16.10 Million Investment in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VTR. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,750,467.04. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on VTR shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Down 0.8%

Ventas stock opened at $64.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 342.07, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.94. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.66 and a 52 week high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 581.82%.

Ventas Company 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.