Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Invests $41,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $477,000. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 10,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Ventas by 82.8% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 722,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,700,000 after acquiring an additional 327,453 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 15,293.7% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 951,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,413,000 after acquiring an additional 945,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $282,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE VTR opened at $66.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 201.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.87. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $53.09 and a one year high of $71.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.73.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 581.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 29,493 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $1,955,090.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $11,160,849.56. The trade was a 14.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of Ventas 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 sale, the director owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 343,588 shares of company stock valued at $22,415,190 in the last three months. 0.80% 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.