HGI Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 97,133 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

HGI Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 97,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $5,720,000. Ventas comprises about 5.9% of HGI Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at $340,282,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 1,489.5% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $85,750,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,504 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,499,228 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $147,180,000 after purchasing an additional 896,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 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

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VTR. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a research 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.66. The company had a trading volume of 724,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,671,888. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.88 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. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $67.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.66. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 361.39, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Ventas's payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was 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 214,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.