Farringdon Capital Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,486 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VTR shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities 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 MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,096,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,096,486. The firm has a market cap of $30.06 billion, a PE ratio of 361.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $42.88 and a one year high of $71.36. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $67.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.66.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.