Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Ventas, Inc. by 606.2% in Q1, culminating in ownership of 37,500 shares valued at approximately $2.58 million.
• Ventas reported $1.42 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, equating to a 2.8% yield.
• Analysts have mixed views on Ventas, with ratings ranging from sell to strong buy, and the consensus price target is set at $72.90.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 606.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 32,190 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the first quarter worth $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1,334.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Ventas during the first quarter worth $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Ventas during the first quarter worth $41,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.40, for a total transaction of $695,702.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $77,219,843. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 348,700 shares of company stock worth $22,776,223. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Up 0.1%

Ventas stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.37. 164,083 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,116,222. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.67 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.22, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 1.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Ventas's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 446.51%.

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.