Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Acquires 555 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Ventas worth $19,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VTR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Ventas Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:VTR opened at $69.95 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.46. The company has a market cap of $30.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 368.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.08. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (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 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.