Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 667.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,479 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Ventas were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the third quarter worth about $241,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 13.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 198,778 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,748,000 after acquiring an additional 24,086 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 37.8% during the third quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ventas by 54.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 10,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 7.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.63.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR stock opened at $63.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.68. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $67.61. The company has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -371.88, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.36.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently -1,058.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,827 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.20, for a total transaction of $431,466.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,360,514.40. The trade was a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $389,940.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,079 shares of company stock worth $9,241,311 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.