Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $313,000 Investment in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,310 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:VTR traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.19. 1,797,456 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,750,580. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.66 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 337.84, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Ventas's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 69,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.59, for a total transaction of $4,494,947.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,630.76. This represents a 29.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 381,073 shares of company stock valued at $25,880,930 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.00.

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.