DnB Asset Management AS Increases Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,610 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Ventas were worth $4,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Up 1.1 %

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

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued 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.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,622,918.44. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.