Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Purchased by Aew Capital Management L P

Aew Capital Management L P lifted its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 988,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,340 shares during the quarter. Ventas comprises about 2.8% of Aew Capital Management L P’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Aew Capital Management L P’s holdings in Ventas were worth $58,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in 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 last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $69.18 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $69.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a PE ratio of 364.12, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.78%. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

About Ventas

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.