Pitcairn Co. Purchases 6,824 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Pitcairn Co. boosted its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 124.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,824 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VTR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ventas by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after buying an additional 912,813 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,710,426,000 after acquiring an additional 581,870 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ventas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,207,000 after purchasing an additional 537,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Ventas by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,802,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $341,703,000 after purchasing an additional 382,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $65.55 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $28.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 345.01, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.40.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas 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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the 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 directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VTR. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

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.