Centiva Capital LP Invests $630,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,693 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 912,813 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Ventas by 60.8% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133,172 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $361,184,000 after purchasing an additional 335,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,888 shares of company stock worth $21,536,515 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VTR. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Ventas Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE VTR traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,435,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,713,266. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.96. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.66 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 342.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company 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 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 581.82%.

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.