Raymond James & Associates Buys 46,887 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 81.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,887 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Ventas were worth $6,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Ventas in the second quarter worth $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Ventas in the second quarter worth $41,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.20, for a total transaction of $431,466.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,360,514.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 79,285 shares of company stock valued at $4,714,361. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.63.

Ventas Stock Up 0.7 %

Ventas stock opened at $66.49 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.48 and a 200 day moving average of $55.10. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $66.98. 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 market cap of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of -166.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. Ventas’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -449.99%.

Ventas Profile

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.