Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $39.79 Million Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,069 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $39,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 worth $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,411,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $665,559,000 after buying an additional 245,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at $340,282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Trading Up 1.1 %

VTR opened at $68.74 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 361.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.28.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

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.