Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $477,000 Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired 6,941 shares of Ventas, Inc. valued at approximately $477,000 in the first quarter, indicating increased institutional interest in the real estate investment trust.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Ventas's stock with ratings ranging from sell to strong buy, and a consensus price target of $72.90.
• In the latest quarter, Ventas reported $1.36 billion in revenue and $0.84 earnings per share, exceeding analyst estimates and showing a 13.2% increase year-over-year.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,941 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Ventas by 175.2% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 622 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 29,493 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total transaction of $1,955,090.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,160,849.56. This trade represents a 14.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 334,478 shares of company stock worth $21,813,565. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of VTR stock traded up $1.20 on Thursday, hitting $67.68. 1,264,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,106,196. 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 $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 203.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.13 and a 200 day moving average of $64.90. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.28 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Ventas's payout ratio is 581.82%.

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.