MQS Management LLC Buys Shares of 9,343 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,343 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,752,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,573,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Ventas by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,521 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,166 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 69,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.59, for a total value of $4,494,947.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,630.76. The trade was a 29.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,454 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,035 shares of company stock worth $7,832,135. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $64.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 196.24, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $63.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.22. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.45 and a twelve month high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 2.96%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on VTR shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Company 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.

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