Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Increases Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 63,500.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 4,445 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 1.2 %

VTR opened at $66.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 352.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $71.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.11. 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 results 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 return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 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.