Pitcairn Co. Grows Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 37.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ventas by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,420,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $347,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,408 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the second quarter worth about $73,517,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 217.4% in the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 856,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,905,000 after buying an additional 586,676 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Ventas by 1,247.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 496,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after buying an additional 459,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ventas during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,551,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $389,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,827 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.20, for a total transaction of $431,466.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,360,514.40. The trade was a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,241,311. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Ventas stock opened at $64.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -377.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $67.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.08 and its 200 day moving average is $57.79.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Ventas’s payout ratio is -1,058.82%.

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.