Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $4.36 Million Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 57.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 115,000 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Ventas were worth $4,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at about $51,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $63.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,311,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,958. The company has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -335.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.36. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $60.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.66. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month high of $65.64.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. Ventas's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Ventas's payout ratio is -947.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VTR. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush raised their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.67.

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.