Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 192,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,055 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $11,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’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 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. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VTR. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.10. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

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.