Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Bought by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,610 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Ventas were worth $4,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VTR. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Ventas by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ventas by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its position in Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VTR shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $68.74 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a PE ratio of 361.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Ventas 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.