Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,802,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 382,080 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Ventas were worth $341,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $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 buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Up 0.2 %

VTR stock opened at $69.39 on Thursday. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 365.23, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.35.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,010.53%.

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.