Bank of Montreal Can Has $24.14 Million Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 409,931 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 18,629 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.10% of Ventas worth $24,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Ventas by 6.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,219,000 after buying an additional 1,985 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 57,477 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 24,333 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Ventas by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 19,976 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,281,000 after buying an additional 2,690 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ventas by 10.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ventas stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $68.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 755,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,658,114. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 358.94, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.70 and a 1-year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

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.