Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 37.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,907 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 7,015 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,321,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $571,000. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,905,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in Ventas by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 164,819 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,400,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ventas Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE VTR traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,928,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,687,268. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.09 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The company has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm's 50 day moving average is $64.04 and its 200 day moving average is $64.73.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 343,588 shares of company stock valued at $22,415,190 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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.