Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $360,000 Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,121 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its position in Ventas by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Down 1.2 %

Ventas stock opened at $66.91 on Monday. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 352.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.11.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $2,852,589.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.