Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 453,425 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,400,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 453,425 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Ventas were worth $141,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,322,000. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 77,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,610 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Ventas by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 892,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,571,000 after purchasing an additional 64,821 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Up 1.1 %

VTR opened at $68.74 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a PE ratio of 361.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current 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 represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.