Corton Capital Inc. Makes New $308,000 Investment in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,229 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.96. 1,713,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,710,367. The company has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 347.18, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.66 and a twelve month high of $71.36. The business's 50-day moving average price is $67.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.00.

About Ventas

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.