Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest of late.
To the average investor, there are many methods market participants can use to watch publicly traded companies. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are lots of motivations for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action encompassing Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR).
How are hedge funds trading Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 36% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, holds the largest position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR). AEW Capital Management has a $190 million position in the stock, comprising 5% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jacob Gottlieb of Visium Asset Management, with a $89 million position; 3.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Visium Asset Management, managed by Jacob Gottlieb, assembled the most outsized position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR). Visium Asset Management had 89 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital also made a $4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new VTR investors: Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, and Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc.
What have insiders been doing with Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) is an important part of this process.
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