Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,021 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 27,499 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Ventas were worth $7,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,888 shares of company stock worth $21,536,515. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,756,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,694,684. The company has a market capitalization of $28.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 346.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $67.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.94. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.53 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ventas's dividend 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.