Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Acquired by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,705 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Ventas worth $13,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 52,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 25,107 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 518.1% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 983,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,922,000 after buying an additional 824,429 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,463,551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $262,859,000 after buying an additional 509,535 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $308,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $842,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $601,624.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $75,661,697.80. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,888 shares of company stock worth $21,536,515 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $65.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.66 and a 1-year high of $71.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 347.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.96.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Ventas’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 yield of 2.91%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 581.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Scotiabank increased their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Argus set a $75.00 price target on Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

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.