Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Stake Raised by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,989,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,139 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Ventas were worth $176,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ventas in the third quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $68.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of 362.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.93 and a 200-day moving average of $62.17. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $68.99.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s 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 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.71.

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.