New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 86,641 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 86,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $5,102,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $340,282,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 21,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 4,973 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Ventas by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 162,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 11,916 shares during the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,195,000. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Ventas by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 42,857 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 6,903 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,852,589.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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 raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $68.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 361.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.99 and its 200 day moving average is $63.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

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.