7,537 Shares in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Acquired by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,537 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VTR. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 48.4% in 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 last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 726.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ventas by 2.5% in 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its holdings in Ventas by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,092,561 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,051,000 after acquiring an additional 131,202 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Down 0.4%

Ventas stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.88. 591,600 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,756,846. The company's 50-day moving average is $66.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.58 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $28.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 336.20, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Argus set a $75.00 price target on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 17,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.22, for a total value of $1,133,132.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 168,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,980,700.08. This trade represents a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $81,413,086.70. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,474 shares of company stock worth $9,516,072 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.