JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $2.22 Billion Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ventas, Inc. by 9.5% during the first quarter, holding a total of 32,347,333 shares worth approximately $2.22 billion.
• Ventas recently reported earnings of $0.87 per share, exceeding expectations, and its revenue increased by 18.3% year-over-year, reaching $1.42 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, representing a dividend yield of 2.8%, although it has a notably high dividend payout ratio of 446.51%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,347,333 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,811,241 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 7.17% of Ventas worth $2,224,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VTR. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ventas by 1,334.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $68.55 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.68 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 159.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average price is $64.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.41.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Ventas's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 29,691 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $2,033,536.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $11,531,250.36. This trade represents a 14.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 378,391 shares of company stock valued at $24,809,760. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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