Chicago Capital LLC Invests $579,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,422 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $340,282,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $365,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Rush Island Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 130.6% during the 4th quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $182,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754,494 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Ventas by 1,489.5% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $85,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,504 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $67,719,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on VTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,027,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,809,252. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 189.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.89. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.48 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.88.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 69,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.59, for a total transaction of $4,494,947.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,630.76. The trade was a 29.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $10,997,929. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Company 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.