Woodline Partners LP Invests $1.48 Million in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,087 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,477,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $340,282,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Ventas by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $365,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347,705 shares during the last quarter. Rush Island Management LP lifted its position in Ventas by 130.6% in the fourth quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $182,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754,494 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Ventas by 1,489.5% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $85,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at $67,719,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 468,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,756,292. 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 1-year low of $47.58 and a 1-year high of $71.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 337.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.94.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 581.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.00.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 69,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.59, for a total value of $4,494,947.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 168,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,874,630.76. The trade was a 29.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,474 shares of company stock worth $9,516,072 over the last three months. 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.