Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Invests $77,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 63,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 27,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 225,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,272,000 after acquiring an additional 64,877 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $583,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Ventas by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 192,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,356,000 after buying an additional 17,055 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.04.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s 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 owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Company 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.