Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Position Boosted by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 48.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 12,969 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after acquiring an additional 24,300 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 480.7% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Presima Securities ULC increased its stake in Ventas by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after purchasing an additional 121,193 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 726.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $296,100,000 after purchasing an additional 123,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $2,852,589.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $68.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.21 and its 200-day moving average is $63.15. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. 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 is 1,010.53%.

Ventas Company 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.