Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,619 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $11,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,172,000 after buying an additional 3,468 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 11.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ventas by 5.3% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 90,875 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,828,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Ventas by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,201,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $77,044,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $67.57 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.62 and a 200-day moving average of $63.03. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 355.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.