Corton Capital Inc. Purchases New Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,229 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Presima Securities ULC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 121,193 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 726.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 4,630 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ventas by 2.5% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 123,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 worth $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,117,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,704,252. The company has a market cap of $29.47 billion, a PE ratio of 343.77, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.66 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $67.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.96.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Ventas's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 313,888 shares of company stock valued at $21,536,515. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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 downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.