Boothbay Fund Management LLC Buys Shares of 119,549 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 119,549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $7,040,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Presima Securities ULC raised its stake in Ventas by 38.0% during the 4th 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 raised its stake in Ventas by 48.4% during the 4th 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 raised its stake in Ventas by 726.8% during the 4th 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. raised its stake in Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th 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. raised its stake in Ventas by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ventas stock traded up $0.62 on Tuesday, reaching $69.12. 2,555,229 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,683,346. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.64 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 363.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.87.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

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.