Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Lowers Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,583,670 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 148,796 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.38% of Ventas worth $93,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ventas by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after acquiring an additional 912,813 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $643,207,000 after purchasing an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Ventas by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,802,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $341,703,000 after buying an additional 382,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $340,282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Four 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. The trade was a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Trading Down 0.3 %

Ventas stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $68.06. 605,782 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,671,385. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a PE ratio of 358.23, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $67.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.66. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.88 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Research analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. 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.