Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 138,803 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,104,450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 138,803 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.46% of Ventas worth $359,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VTR. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Ventas in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Ventas by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Ventas by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade 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 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VTR. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho increased 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. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ventas has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR traded down $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $68.40. 2,216,767 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,097,511. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.11 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 360.02, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.69.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's payout ratio is 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.