11,623 Shares in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Bought by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 11,623 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Ventas by 1.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Atom Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at $220,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 222,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,256,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 13,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 34.8% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value 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 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. Insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VTR. Scotiabank boosted 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, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Up 0.2 %

Ventas stock opened at $69.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a PE ratio of 365.23, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.45 and a 12-month high of $71.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.59 and its 200 day moving average is $63.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase 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 2.77%. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 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.