J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Takes $210,000 Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 8.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,985 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,811,000 after purchasing an additional 31,616 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Ventas by 109.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 4,013 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ventas during the second quarter worth about $218,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Ventas by 1.7% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 169,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 31.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,257,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,458,000 after acquiring an additional 303,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,207,444.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Trading Down 3.1 %

Ventas stock opened at $62.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -327.35, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $65.64.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is -947.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.45.

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.